Kane told Postecoglou he wanted to leave Tottenham on new boss's first day
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich is “imminent” - and admitted the striker made is clear he wanted to leave on his first day in the job.
Bayern have tracked the England captain all summer and a number of bids were turned down, but a breakthrough was reached on Wednesday night.
It left the ball in Kane’s court and he decided on Thursday to leave his boyhood club and join the Bundesliga champions, who will pay an initial £100m for the forward with add-ons able to potentially take the transfer up to an overall fee of £120m.
Reports on Friday morning initially suggested Spurs had refused to give Kane permission to travel to Germany, but they were squashed by Tottenham and he is set to fly out on Friday afternoon and will complete a medical once he lands in Munich.
Postecoglou, speaking ahead of Sunday’s trip to Brentford, confirmed: “Fair to say I don’t have a blow by blow account but my understanding is it has progressed to the point where it looks like it will happen. From that perspective, at least it gives us some clarity and we move forward without Harry.
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“From my perspective it is just about understanding where we are at and the information I have at the moment is the deal is imminent but like with all these things, you leave yourself some leeway. But moving forward and training today preparing for Brentford, we are doing it without Harry.
“It is best Harry speaks for himself in terms of the decision but no doubt he is one of the greats of this football club and that never changes. I am only new in the building but fairly evident Harry Kane will always be one of the greats for this football club.”
Kane is unlikely to be signed in time to feature in Bayern’s DFL-Super Cup match with RB Leipzig on Saturday night. However, with the clash taking place at Bayern’s Allianz Arena home, England captain Kane could well be unveiled to supporters before kick-off.
Harry Kane is set to end his 19-year stay at Spurs (Getty Images)This is not the first summer where Kane’s future has dominated headlines after Manchester City had a failed pursuit in 2021. Kane sat out the first match of that season – coincidentally against City – but Pep Guardiola’s side never got close to agreeing a fee with Tottenham for the forward.
With Kane into the last 12 months of his contract at Spurs this summer, speculation over his future this time always felt more significant. Bayern saw bids reportedly turned down in June and July but made their intentions clear, with club officials in honorary president Uli Hoeness and president Herbert Hainer speaking openly in the media about Kane’s desire to join the Bundesliga champions.
A third bid was submitted last Friday and a new twist occurred when Spurs spent all weekend deliberating before chairman Daniel Levy rejected the offer on Monday. With noises coming out that Kane, who scored four goals in a friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Sunday, had enjoyed working with new Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, confidence started to grow that he could spend the season with his boyhood team.
Ange Postecoglou confirmed Kane's departure was imminent (PA)However, Postecoglou revealed that Kane made it clear on his first day in the job that he would move on if Bayern could come to an agreement with Tottenham over his sale. "I think if you're involved in football as long as I have, you know clubs are not going to talk to each other without the player knowing," he said.
"[Harry and I] had a chat on the first day. He was up front and honest that if they could agree a deal then he would go. He wanted it decided by the first game and that was my preference as well."
Bayern’s latest bid proved enough for an agreement to be reached as Kane's 9-year stay at Spurs comes to an end. It means his pursuit of Alan Shearer’s Premier League goal-scoring record will go on pause, with the Tottenham forward still 47 goals off equalling Shearer’s tally of 260.
He will leave N17 as the club’s leading marksman after he surpassed Jimmy Greaves’ 266-goal record in February with the winner against Manchester City.
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Kane will also get the chance to fulfil his career-long ambition of winning trophies at Bayern, while remaining in the Champions League after spending only one of the last three campaigns in Europe’s elite competition. Back at Spurs, Postecoglou, who only took over in June, will be tasked with filling a huge void.
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