England captain Harry Kane has joined German champions Bayern Munich on a four-year deal, ending his record-breaking career at Tottenham.
The striker has signed a deal worth more than 110m euros (£95m) and could make his debut in Saturday’s German Super Cup game against RB Leipzig.
In a social media post he said he “felt this was the time to leave” Spurs.
Kane and his entourage were on Friday held up at the airport in London as Tottenham sought to change some small conditions of the striker’s transfer to Bayern Munich.
“Final ‘poker games’ of Kane saga Harry Kane and his camp, at the airport in order to fly to Munich. Tottenham now asking to change some small conditions of the deal. Kane, just waiting to fly once Spurs approve. …Daniel Levy, in USA and so on different time zone,” transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reported.
Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur reached an agreement exceeding 100 million euros (£86.4 million) for the transfer of the 30-year-old player on Thursday.
Subsequently, the decision to transition rested with Kane, Tottenham’s record-breaking top scorer with 280 goals across 435 appearances.
Kane’s contract was in its final year, and prospects for his continued tenure at the club appeared slim.
Barring any unforeseen complications, the finalization of Kane’s transfer is anticipated before the commencement of the Bundesliga season next week.
Recognizing the striker’s desire for a resolution regarding his future before the season kickoff, it took Bayern a significant portion of the summer to arrive at a juncture where Tottenham’s chairman, Daniel Levy, was willing to engage in negotiations.
While initial reports had linked Kane with a potential move to Manchester United earlier in the summer, it remained uncertain whether Levy would be open to selling him to another Premier League side.
Kane could have allowed his contract to expire and departed on a free transfer in 2024.
In 2021, Manchester City’s endeavor to secure Kane’s signature prompted the English forward to defer his return for pre-season training. However, he participated in Tottenham’s pre-season tour of Australia and South East Asia even as negotiations with Bayern persisted. His most recent appearance was against Shakhtar Donetsk on Sunday.
Tottenham’s opening fixture of the season is against Brentford on Sunday, while Bayern Munich commences their season with the German Super Cup against RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Kane boasts three Premier League Golden Boot awards – in the seasons 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2020-21. With 213 goals from 320 appearances in the English top-flight, he stood just 48 goals away from surpassing Alan Shearer’s record for the most Premier League goals.
Following the news, Alan Shearer humorously suggested on social media that it’s now time for Kane to depart the Premier League, thus keeping the former Newcastle striker’s top-flight goal record of 260 goals intact.
