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Tottenham's Harry Kane close to sealing £100m transfer to Bayern Munich

The England captain had one year left on his contract and was unlikely to stay with the Spurs

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England's striker Harry Kane is Tottenham's all-time top scorer with 280 goals in 435 appearances. - AFP

By AP

Published: Fri 11 Aug 2023, 9:12 PM

England captain Harry Kane's transfer from Tottenham to Bayern Munich is “imminent,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou said Friday, in a deal that will reportedly be worth more than £100 million.

After spending 19 years at Tottenham without winning a trophy, a move to Bayern would allow Kane to fight for titles in the German league and in Europe.

“My understanding is it has progressed to the point where it looks like it's going to happen,” Postecoglou said of what would be a record transfer for the Bundesliga and one of the biggest deals of the summer transfer window.

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The 30-year-old Kane is expected to undergo medical tests in Germany on Friday and could potentially make his debut Saturday, when Bayern hosts Leipzig in the German Super Cup.

However, British broadcaster Sky Sports reported he had not yet flown to Germany and still wanted some reassurances.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said his club is still “working hard” to sign Kane.

“We are working with the highest pressure and highest focus and highest priority to sign Harry Kane," Tuchel said. “

And this shows the importance. I mean, we are trying to get the captain of the English national team out of England, out of the Premier League. That says it all.”

Kane, the second highest scorer in the Premier League with 213 goals — 47 behind Alan Shearer's record — would give a central focus in attack to a Bayern team which has struggled to adapt since selling Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona a year ago.

As for Tottenham, Kane’s departure would leave a hole in the squad ahead of its first game of the new Premier League season, against Brentford on Sunday.

It would require a deep rebuild in a team which is already reeling from the failure to qualify for any European competition this season, but Postecoglou said he had been preparing for that and that Kane's imminent departure “at least gives us some clarity.”

“We have been planning for this, it's fair to say, for a while,” he said. “This doesn't change things dramatically from my perspective anyway for what we are trying to build.”

Postecoglou, who joined Tottenham in the offseason, said he hadn't attempted to change Kane's mind.

“I had a conversation with Harry the first day I arrived and he was up front and honest and I was the same,” he said.

"You kind of get an indication there that he had made up his mind that if the clubs agreed, that he would go.

“There is nothing that has been along the way that has sort of made my feel there was anything other than this outcome.”

Kane scored 30 Premier League goals for Tottenham last season. No other player in the team scored more than 10.

Kane, who has been at Tottenham since 2004, is in the last year of his contract at the club and could have moved for free next year.

The closest he came to winning major honors was in 2019 when Spurs were beaten beaten by Liverpool in the Champions League final.

Kane is Tottenham’s record goal-scorer. His prospective move to Bayern would bring an end to years of speculation regarding his future and will see Spurs lose one of its greatest players.

Kane has repeatedly been linked with moves to leading clubs in the Premier League and Europe, but Tottenham has always resisted attempts to lure him away, largely because he was tied to a six-year contract, which was signed in 2018.

In 2021 Tottenham blocked interest from Manchester City, despite Kane indicating he was ready to leave. But with Kane set to become a free agent at the end of the season, Spurs risked losing him for nothing next summer.

Bayern won an 11th consecutive Bundesliga title last season, but only on goal difference ahead of Borussia Dortmund after a turbulent season which saw conflict between key players and club officials.

The close title race was widely seen as rekindling international interest in the German league even as Bayern's title streak continued.

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Kane's arrival would mark a symbolic moment for the Bundesliga, which lost some famous names last year as Lewandowski headed to Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund sold Erling Haaland to Manchester City.

Leipzig coach Marco Rose, whose team plays Bayern Saturday, offered his congratulations if the German champion succeeds in signing Kane.

“We can all look forward to having a world-class player like that in the Bundesliga,” he said Friday.

AP

Published: Fri 11 Aug 2023, 9:12 PM

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