Harry Kane: Loan star, Spurs icon, Bayern's savior?

While it says a lot about the competitive state of the Bundesliga that Bayern could make the strategic error of failing to replace Robert Lewandowski and still win the title, the man they have landed as his replacement should guarantee their domestic hegemony for at least a few more seasons.

Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur's record goalscorer, the second-highest scorer in Premier League history, the best playmaker in Tottenham's modern history, and an icon of English football, is the only player worthy of Lewandowski's mantle and will sign a deal until 2027.

In the end it has taken over €100m to prise him from the grip of Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, a man lauded for his negotiating skills but who has left Spurs floundering to replace the best player in their modern history, a homegrown hero, on the day the Premier League season begins.

Levy has also overseen the second-longest trophy drought in Tottenham's history during his 22-year stewardship of the North London club. And it's precisely this lack of sporting ambition that has driven Kane to a less competitive league and to a club where trophies are expected rather than yearned for.

Kane is an elite player and players of his ilk need silverware. He  was on course to overtake Alan Shearer's landmark haul of 260 Premier League goals but this chase will now be put on hold until his inevitable return to England, once his thirst for trophies has been quenched.

Loan star in England's lower leagues

Kane has demonstrated a relentless desire to be the best since he emerged as the standout player at Tottenham's Academy over a decade ago. He would stay late after training for extra shooting practice and hit dozens of penalties while his teammates were already showered; his rise to the top is built on work ethic and drive.

But it took years for Kane to become an overnight success. He cut his teeth on loan in England's lower leagues – first at Leyton Orient, where he scored on his first league start. But it was at Millwall in 2012 where Kane really started to deliver on his potential.

Still only 18, Kane was already clearly a cut above in the Championship, the English second tier. Under Kenny Jackett at Millwall he played as a support striker to Irishman Andy Keogh and honed his ability to operate as a No.10 rather than the pure striker that he would later become.

Big break under Pochettino

After loans at Leicester and Norwich didn't go so smoothly, Kane was back at Spurs and pushing for inclusion in the Tottenham team. While it was Tim Sherwood who gave Kane his first chance before those loans, it was Mauricio Pochettino who nurtured his raw talent.

"He was the boss, the leader, the one that set the standards in how we played and how we trained," Kane said of Pochettino in 2021. "We became friends in the things we did and what we talked about went beyond football."

Kane's first Premier League goal came in April 2014, and he would go on to score in three straight games at the end of the 2013/14 season. The following season under new coach Pochettino, Kane was being used in the Europa League but only as a substitute in the Premier League — until Kane scored a goal that Pochettino believes saved his job.

The Argentine had won only three of his first nine games as Spurs coach and was under pressure by the trigger-happy Levy. Kane came off the bench at 1-0 down at Aston Villa and inspired Spurs to a late comeback with a winning deflected free-kick in the 90th minute. Far from a free-kick specialist, Kane's career took flight.

"That is why that goal allowed us to carry on working and try to change the club," Pochettino said in 2017. "We were in the first season at Tottenham and people on day one when I signed the contract said 'Ok maybe in a few months, we have a new face in front of us.'"

Hope to disillusionment

In the nine years since his breakthrough moment, Kane has shaken off the tag of a 'one season wonder' to become one of the Premier League's all-time greats. He's also broken Wayne Rooney's England scoring record and became England captain in 2017.

At Spurs, Kane became even more prolific during his 18 months under Jose Mourinho, who converted him into an advanced number 9, which saw his understanding with Heung-min Son reach new levels.

Son and Kane have combined for more Premier League goals than any other pair and their understanding has dragged Spurs to greater heights than they would have otherwise achieved.

He was also integral to Tottenham's run to the Champions League final in 2019. He missed the semifinal second leg victory over Ajax through injury but returned to the team for the final, ahead of the hero of Amsterdam, Lucas Moura. But hampered by a lack of match fitness, Kane was largely anonymous in the defeat by Liverpool in the final in Madrid.

Losing finals has been a theme of Kane's Tottenham career, defeated in all three he's played for the club: 2015, 2019 and 2021. The tipping point for Kane came in April 2021, when Levy fired Mourinho a few days before a League Cup final against Manchester City. This was the same year England lost the European Championship final to Italy, the closest Kane has ever come to silverware. Indeed, Kane has lost 13 finals or semifinals in his career.

Kane's disillusionment with the Spurs project manifested itself in 2021, when Kane told Sky Sports of his desire to leave Tottenham and that he had a 'gentleman's agreement' with Levy to leave. Manchester City soon arrived with a bid of £100m which was swiftly rejected by Spurs, leading to a stand-off that saw Kane skip training in a forlorn attempt to push through a move.

Two years on, during which time Kane has refined his game further to become the complete player, his patience with Spurs has finally run out.

The centerpiece of Tuchel's Bayern

Thomas Tuchel is a long-term admirer of Kane, who not only becomes Bayern Munich's record signing and top-earner but the flagship signing of Tuchel's reshaping of the German champions.

Kane's place in a forward-line of Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala, to name but four, could and should not only protect Bayern's status as the best in the land but make them big challengers for the European Cup again.

Kane's ability to drop deep and influence the play should take some pressure off Musiala while bringing out the best in Bayern's wingers too. But make no mistake, Kane has been signed for his goals – and there is absolutely no doubt that he will deliver.

The kid from North London who dreamed of winning trophies for his boyhood club was ultimately failed by them. And like Luka Modric, Dimitar Berbatov, Christian Eriksen, Kyle Walker and Gareth Bale before him, he has been forced to go elsewhere to achieve that goal. Tottenham failed him, Bayern will not.

Edited by Matt Ford.