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After a long Summer of transfer rumors, credible sources are claiming that Tottenham Hotspur FC and FC Bayern Munich have agreed on a €100m transfer deal to send 30-year-old striker Harry Kane to Germany. The reports claim that it is now up to Harry Kane on whether he should choose to approve the transfer or opt to stay in North London, where he’s been for his career, with only 1 year left on his contract.
To be clear, I have no insider knowledge of the situation. My perspective on this is entirely that of a Tottenham supporter so I come into this with a bit of a bias. But Harry Kane isn’t make this Bayern transfer decision in a vacuum and it’s worth discussing compelling reasons on why he might choose to stay in North London and be a ‘One Club Guy’ like the Kobe Bryants and Derek Jeters of sports lore.
Why Harry Kane Might Turn Down Bayern And Stay With Tottenham: Chasing Alan Shearer’s Record
Harry Kane turned 30-years old in July. Supporters of rival clubs love to claims he’s ‘washed’ every year but Kane turned in 30 goals across all competitions with Tottenham in the 2022-23 year.
As things stand, Harry Kane has the 2nd most goals in Premier League history with 213. He passed Wayne Rooney’s 208 goals last season. He also ranks 57th all-time in assists (46).
Kane now sits 47 goals off Alan Shearer’s record of 260 Premier League goals. Should Harry Kane opt to approve this deal and leave England for Bayern Munich, there’s still a chance he could return to the Prem one day but to think he’d do so in say 4 or 5 years and still be able to put up 47 goals before retirement is a stretch. Opting to leave North London for the Bundesliga all but ensures Alan Shearer’s record remains intact.
Chasing Trophies Is Fun But Nothing’s Guaranteed
The biggest knock on Harry Kane from supporters at rival clubs is Tottenham hasn’t won any hardware in years. The last trophy Tottenham won was the League Cup in 2008. Haters love to claim that Harry will never win a trophy if he stays with Tottenham.
Should Harry Kane leave for Bayern, the only trophy he’s truly guaranteed (at some point) is the Bundesliga. Does that matter to him at all?
He would certainly be going to Germany and FC Bayern with the intention of winning the Champions League, a trophy he came desperately close to winning in 2019 when Tottenham lost in the UCL Finals to Liverpool.
Bayern Munich is in contention to win the Champions League every single year. They have won more UCL titles (6) than any club on earth. Their last UCL title came in 2020. Prior to that it was 2013 and before that it was 2001. Before those three, Bayern won three Champions League titles in a row form 1974-76.
Bayern has one of the richest histories of any club on earth but again, there is truly no guarantee that Harry Kane will win any trophy in Germany with them other than the Bundesliga at some point. Staying in North London and gutting it out for one of the three domestic trophies would simply mean more than joining Bayern and collecting a Bundesliga title participation trophy.
Harry Kane To Bayern? But He’s One Of Our Own, And A Family Man
Harry Kane is a one club man. He’s been with Tottenham his entire career in the Premier League. He was born in Walthamstow just east of Tottenham in North London. And he grew up in the Tottenham Academy.
As the saying goes, “he’s one of our own.”
Harry Kane and his wife Kate are expecting their 4th child. It’s not inconceivable to think that Harry Kane could approve the Bayern transfer and uproot his family and four children and move them to Germany. Nor is it out of the realm of possibility that his family would stay in London while he worked and lived in London.
But he’s a good dad. He loves his family deeply and takes an active role in raising his children as a good father should. A move like this would be a seismic shift to his family life and while he could 100% approve the Bayern transfer any minute, Harry has the deepest of roots in North London from his childhood and now the childhoods of his own children. As a father myself, this, above all, would be the factor that would weigh the most heavily on my decision to go/stay.
That said, Bayern will certainly throw A LOT OF MONEY at him in the way of weekly wages. And it’s hard to turn down generational wealth when considering the future of your family.
What happens if Kane turns down Bayern?
Harry Kane only has 1 year left on his current contract with Tottenham. Should he choose to turn down the Bayern deal, it would indicate that he intends to sign another long-term contract with Tottenham and stay in North London.
But there is no guarantee he stays with Tottenham, of course, should he rebuff the Germans. Harry could opt to move to another Premier League club after this season while still chasing Alan Shearer’s record. If he sees City or Liverpool as a better fit for his goals, that’s a decision he could make.
Tottenham, of course, stands to lose out immensely if Harry Kane leaves North London after this season on a free transfer. They currently have a €100m offer from FC Bayern in front of them, money that could be spent bringing in world class players (desperately in need of a better back line).
The Premier League transfer window will close at Friday, September 1 at 11 6 p.m. ET.
Only Harry Kane knows what happens next. Though, I fully suspect he’ll announce his decision a few seconds before I hit ‘publish’ on this article rendering my writing here moot…