Bayern’s ‘James Bond’ – how Kane clinched his first trophy

Harry Kane has long been criticized for his inability to win a trophy with a club or nation despite his many goals and individual accomplishments.

“There are many people who, throughout my career, only talk about the fact I haven’t won a title yet”, the England captain said recently, as Munich, Bayern’s Bundesliga crown began to look more inevitable. It would be nice to stop a few of them, he said.

Kane even saw the irony in the fact his 14-year wait for a senior trophy might end while he watched on from the stands as Bayern faced RB Leipzig on Saturday, having been handed a one-game suspension following his fifth yellow card of the season last week.

The 31-year-old said, “It’s kind of my story that I’ll miss the Leipzig game.” “But no worries, I’ll celebrate more than anyone else”.

Before a stoppage-time Leipzig equalizer caused the delay, Kane even made his way to the touchline, where he was ready to join the party, with second-placed Bayer Leverkusen drawing 2-2 at Freiburg on Sunday.

That saw Vincent Kompany’s side secure the German title, and means Kane has finally put to rest the notion that a glittering individual career may finish without any silverware.

After the title was announced, the Leverkusen striker, along with fellow England international Eric Dier, and the rest of their Bayern team-mates, had been following the game and had posted a video of them singing “we are the champions.”

“I’m thrilled for him because he deserves it so much”, former Munich, Bayern and Tottenham Hotspur striker Jurgen Klinsmann told BBC Sport.

“Over the past ten years, he has demonstrated it.” His numbers are absolutely insane and he will do that for another couple of years because he’s in top shape still, he’s fit, he’s hungry.

Kane’s career has not followed the trajectory one might expect for England’s all-time record goalscorer. Former youth coach Alex Inglethorpe claimed that he wasn’t even among the top players in the age-group when it came to the top talents at Tottenham.

He was still a youth player the last time Spurs won a trophy, the League Cup in 2008, but earned his breakthrough with the first-team squad and signed his first professional deal in July 2010. Additionally, Leyton Orient had difficult-grafting loan deals with Millwall and Leicester in the Championship and Norwich in the Premier League.

Once Kane established himself at White Hart Lane, he blossomed into Spurs ‘ best homegrown player of a generation, becoming the club’s all-time top scorer with 280 goals in 435 games and climbing to second in the Premier League ranks with 213, behind only Alan Shearer’s 260.

Despite all the goals and three Premier League Golden Boots, a decade in Lilywhite was marred by a string of near-misses, including a Champions League title defeat suffered by Liverpool, twice as runners-up in the competition, and defeats to Leicester and Chelsea in successive seasons.

That story repeated itself with England, as they were runners-up at the past two European Championships and beaten in the 2018 World Cup semi-final by Croatia, despite Kane winning the Golden Boot in Russia seven years ago and finishing as joint top-scorer at last summer’s Euros.

Klinsmann, who also won his only championship after moving to Bayern for Tottenham in 1995, continued, “I always said that if Harry leaves Spurs, he will have the opportunity to win titles.”

Indeed, trophies seemed like a foregone conclusion when Kane joined Bayern for an initial 100m euros (£86.4m) in August 2023 – a club who had won 11 successive Bundesliga titles before his arrival.

Bayern lost 3-0 to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup at Allianz Arena with the England captain coming off the bench for the final 30 minutes and Kane even had a chance to win silverware on his debut.

Was he cursed? Some people may have thought that the third-tier Saarbrucken had then knocked Bayern out of the German Cup.

Leverkusen ran away with the league as Bayern finished third, their lowest position since 2011, while Thomas Tuchel’s side were beaten by eventual winners Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.

Taufig Khalil, a commentator for ARD Radio, claimed that “people made jokes about him.”

” Munich, Bayern won the German championship 11 years in a row, Harry Kane came for 100m-plus and the next season Munich, Bayern did not win a single trophy!

After becoming the Bundesliga’s record signing, Kane never wavered about his desire to keep improving. He spoke recently about studying the game’s greats and having the drive to consistently be one of the world’s best.

Robert Lewandowski, who left Bayern in 2022 as their second-all-time top scorer behind Gerd Muller, is under pressure to do so.

“Munich, Bayern has a huge tradition of number nines”, explained Klinsmann.

“They always have a special eye,” he said. To fill that spot is just an honour. It’s something incredibly special. He knows that he is followed closely by everyone”.

And rival fans see it as a privilege to have Kane in Germany, Khalil said: “Wow, that’s big”!

Yet there is no superstar ego on boy from east London.

He is regarded as extremely professional and a leader among the squad, a player that many of his younger team-mates admire and who is very respectful, whether it be during training or as part of fulfilling the numerous media and partner obligations that come with representing a German giant like Bayern.

“He has a royal approach”, added Khalil. He greets everyone inside the stadium and is very welcoming. If there is a moment he doesn’t want to talk in the mixed zone, then he excuses himself. Many other players attempt to avoid looking in the media when they enter or use the phone while wearing headphones.

” Normally he stops, he is always ready to talk. In that club, he is unquestionably the leader. He gives a lot of that James Bond gratitude – he is the striker with the licence to score! “

Kane has embraced the culture, attended Oktoberfest, visited supporters’ clubs, and taken German lessons despite the joke that he had made it known that his children would eventually learn the language from him.

” What he’s done extremely well is adapt to Bavaria with so much ease, “said Klinsmann”. He embraced the lifestyle there, and the city and his family simply adapted.

“It’s an international place, Munich, so it’s not too problematic but still, you’ve got to go to another country and keep your work-rate at the highest level while figuring out that your family are comfortable and having a good time”.

He has a following too. Kane quickly struck up a friendship with Bayern’s all-time leading appearance-maker Thomas Muller, who will leave at the end of the season, and is known to play golf with the Germany forward and midfielder Konrad Laimer, among others.

Both England internationals are regarded as important to team chemistry at Bayern, and he is close friends with former Spurs team-mate Eric Dier, another well-liked player in the squad.

The humble yet ruthless goal-getter’s perseverance paid off after six final defeats, three against Spurs, two against England, and one against Bayern.

Kane’s first German title is Munich, Bayern’s 34th, but there can be no doubting the Englishman’s importance to Kompany’s side.

The former Manchester City and Belgium captain said, “It helps when you have a top player who wants to run and fight for the team like a youth player.” “I played against him as an opponent and he has become better with age”.

Kane, who has scored 11 goals in the Champions League this year, is the division’s top scorer, with 24 goals and 36 in all competitions this year.

That was a competition in which Bayern were desperate to reach the final at their home stadium in Munich, but Kane missed a big chance in the quarter-final first leg against Inter and, despite scoring in the return in Milan, they were knocked out.

In the end, we spoke with him and he said, “Yes, everybody is right expect me to make that goal, I didn’t do it, that’s fate,” Khalil retorted critics who claim Kane doesn’t score in “big games.”

“Whenever there are bad moments, after the match, in the mixed zone, Harry walks through and he stops, he is talking, he accepts the situation”.

Leverkusen also knocked Bayern out of the German Cup, but with Kane at the heart, Bayern have led from the front in the Bundesliga, bar a brief lull in March when they lost at home to lowly Bochum.

His form during this title run is a continuation of what began in his debut season, where he netted 36 times – only Gerd Muller and Lewandowski have scored more in a single Bundesliga campaign.

Klinsmann praised the team’s ability to connect with its members. “He plays in a system that he’s getting fed by attacking midfielders.

He has done a fantastic job from day one and is incredibly important to the Bayern side.

In April, he became the fastest player to hit 60 goals in the competition, doing so in 60 appearances to break Erling Haaland’s record by five games. In that period, he also contributed 15 assists, making goal involvement on average every 72 minutes.

Khalil anticipates Kane’s pursuit of more titles, and Bayern’s focus will soon shift to winning the Fifa Club World Cup this summer.

” The moment Munich, Bayern went out of the Champions League, they started to talk about the Club World Cup, “he said”. They would earn a lot of money from it because it is another significant trophy, an international award.

That could play a role in Kane’s future and whether Bayern can afford to add widely linked, but expensive, target Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.

Kane’s contract runs until 2027, according to Khalil, with “everyone wants him to stay.”

” The question is, would Florian Wirtz together with Jamal Musiala, the two German youngsters playing side by side, work with a central box striker and how much money do you want to spend on Harry Kane for next season?

“I’ll definitely see him in the Bundesliga next year,” he said, “for me, that’s stupid.” They have to find another way to finance Florian Wirtz.

“I believe Harry Kane will be around at least for another year.”