England captain Harry Kane has landed in Germany for a physical with Bayern Munich, as he prepares to leave Tottenham Hotspur.
On Thursday, Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur negotiated a fee of more than 100 million euros (£86.4 million) for the 30-year-old.
Kane, Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer with 280 goals in 435 games, was then left to make the decision.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou stated the transaction is “imminent” on Friday.
Kane’s contract had one year left on it and he was unlikely to continue with the club.
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Tuchel says Bayern Munich is still working on a ‘big deal’ for striker Harry Kane.
Kane’s transfer will be finalized in time for the start of the Bundesliga season next week, if no unexpected complications arise.
The striker was said to want a decision on his future made before the season started, but it took Bayern most of the summer to get to the point where Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was willing to negotiate a deal.
Kane was linked with a summer move to Manchester United, but it was unclear if Levy would have been ready to trade him to another Premier League team.
He could have played out the final year of his contract before departing for free in 2024.
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Manchester City’s effort to recruit Kane in 2021 delayed his return to pre-season training, but he participated on Tottenham’s recent pre-season tour of Australia and Southeast Asia as discussions with Bayern proceeded, and he last featured on Sunday against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Tottenham will play Brentford in their opening encounter of the season on Sunday, while Bayern will kick off their season in the German Super Cup against RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Kane has won the Premier League Golden Boot three times – in 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2020-21 – and with 213 goals from 320 Premier League appearances, he just needs 48 more to match Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record. A transfer to Germany might put an end to that possibility.
Following the announcement on Friday morning, Shearer joked on social media that it was time for Kane to leave the Premier League, with the former Newcastle and Blackburn striker’s record of 260 top-flight goals safe for the time being.
Alan Shearer’s Twitter
Kane, the all-time leading scorer for England with 58 international goals, has never won a major prize with club or country.
Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga for the 33rd time last season, their 11th in a row, and have also won the Champions League six times and the German Cup 20 times.
‘We proceed without Harry.’
Postecoglou stated at a press conference on Friday that Kane had already “made up his mind” when he came over as manager in June.
“I don’t have a blow-by-blow account,” Postecoglou said, “but my understanding is that it’s progressed to the point where it’s going to happen and a deal is imminent.”
“At the very least, that gives us some clarity; unless something unexpected happens, we move forward without Harry.”
The Spurs manager also stated that Kane wants a deal done before the start of the Premier League season and that arrangements for his exit were in place.
“It doesn’t take much detective work to figure out that this was going to happen.” “A lot of our business has been done with that in mind up until now,” he continued.
“It’s not like we had a pow wow this morning and said, ‘What should we do?'”
Postecoglou went on to say that Kane would always be remembered as one of the Spurs’ “greats,” and that his departure will not affect that.
Earlier in the day, Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel addressed the media and stated that his club was working under “full pressure” on the transaction.
“We can confirm this, but there is no agreement as of yet, and if there is no agreement, the coach cannot speak about someone who is not their player,” Tuchel explained.
“I realize there are a lot of ifs and whens.” All possibilities are on the table. The first is to have him as a player, which he is not at the present.
“This is significant. We are attempting to remove England’s captain from the Premier League.”
How did we end up here?
Kane is linked with a £160 million transfer to Manchester City in June 2021, following uncertainty about his future.
August 2021: City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledges the club’s interest in the forward, but Kane announces later that month that he would remain at Tottenham due to Levy’s refusal to sell.
March 2023: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is said to be eyeing Kane as a top summer transfer target.
Real Madrid expresses interest in signing Kane on June 5, 2023.
15 June 2023: United withdraw from the contest to acquire Kane, apparently due to the difficulty of working with Levy and Spurs demanding too much money.
27 June 2023: Reports surface that Bayern Munich made a £70 million deal for Kane, but Tottenham insiders deny this and say any offer would be rejected immediately.
28 June 2023: Bayern Munich makes a revised offer for Kane, which is once again rejected.
10 July 2023: Ange Postecoglou, the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur, says he wants Kane to continue at the club.
14 July 2023: Kane’s participation in Spurs’ pre-season tour of Australia and the Far East is confirmed.
5 August 2023: Bayern Munich informs Tottenham that they must decide whether to trade Harry Kane before the end of the day.
7 August 2023: Tottenham reject Bayern Munich’s most recent offer for Kane, with the Bundesliga champions implying that a failed deal on this time would mean they would move on to other transfer targets.
10 August 2023: Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur reach an agreement for 100 million euros (£86.4 million), allowing Kane to determine his future.
Spurs offer Kane permission to go to Germany for a medical on August 11, 2023.