Bayern fly in for more Harry Kane talks but PSG interest complicates pursuit
By Story Agencies, July 27, 2023Bayern Munich are poised to make their next push to sign Harry Kane, with two of their top executives flying to London on Friday for talks with the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy.
The situation is complicated, though, for the German club by the fact that Paris Saint-Germain are still there for Kane and willing to outbid anybody for him.
It is a strange set of circumstances because Kane has no wish to join PSG. The England captain, who has one year on his contract, wants to go to Bayern if he is allowed to leave this summer. But PSG’s presence stands to create a market for Kane, even if it is a slightly artificial one, which Levy will surely leverage.
PSG are after a striker as uncertainty clings to the future of their star player, Kylian Mbappé. He is out of contract next summer and is refusing to sign a new deal. Levy enjoys a good relationship with the PSG president, Nasser al-Khelaifi.
Bayern’s London delegation
The Bayern delegation to London will comprise the chief executive, Jan-Christian Dreesen, and the technical director, Marco Neppe. They stayed in Munich earlier in the week when the Bayern squad flew to Japan for the start of their Asia tour, the idea being that they would work on the Kane deal, among others.
Dreesen met Levy in London two weeks ago and it is significant that there is an open channel of communication between them with regard to Kane. Levy flew back to London with the Spurs squad after the team’s 5-1 friendly win over Lion City Sailors in Singapore on Wednesday – the last game of the club’s Asia-Pacific tour. Kane scored one of the goals, with Richarlison getting a hat-trick and Giovani Lo Celso the other.
Kane is desperate to win team silverware and surely sees Bayern as a route to that end. They have won 11 Bundesliga titles in a row and usually have a shot at the Champions League. Moreover, it would be a cleaner and less confrontational move for Kane than, say, going to a domestic rival.
An interesting question for Kane would be how he felt about reducing his chances of breaking Alan Shearer’s Premier League goalscoring record of 260, even if that is a slightly confected mark. Shearer scored 23 times for Southampton in the old division one before the Premier League’s inception in 1992. Does Kane’s desire for team honours override everything? He has 213 Premier League goals.