Harry Kane's "main reason" for leaving Tottenham didn't centre on trophy desire

10 September 2023 , 08:55

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Harry Kane's "main reason" for leaving Tottenham didn't centre on trophy desire

Harry Kane claims the "main reason" he left Tottenham was to challenge himself in a different environment - not to simply win trophies.

The forward made the move to Bayern Munich only weeks ago, which surprised many given how close he was to the all-time Premier League goalscoring record. At 30, Kane is now at the peak of his powers and is poised to spend several years in Germany.

He had spent the entirety of his career at Tottenham, establishing himself as one of the world's elite strikers, but his efforts with the north Londoners have resulted in no silverware. Kane is expected to win honours at the Allianz Arena but didn't leave solely to pick up trophies.

"That was pretty much the main reason [for leaving Spurs]. There’s a lot of talk about trophies and of course, I want to win trophies. But that wasn’t the only reason I went to Bayern Munich. I felt that I needed to be playing at the highest level if I ultimately wanted to improve.

"If I want to be around the best strikers and best players in the world then I need to be playing in the Champions League and fighting for titles. I just felt last season went well for me personally [he scored 30 league goals] but not for Spurs as a team. I felt it was time to take another step and take another challenge. The thing I have felt most since I’ve been at Bayern Munich is the pressure. It’s not just wanting to win; you have to win."

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Kane missed out on his first chance of silverware as the Bavarians were surprisingly beaten in the German Super Cup, but the England star has helped Thomas Tuchel's side win their opening four games, scoring in home and away wins as he begins to justify his hefty fee.

Harry Kane has started impressively at Bayern (Tom Weller/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Bayern spent a club-record sum to get Kane out of Tottenham, who has seen a host of his international team-mates pick up trophies, some on a regular basis. He and Kyle Walker were in north London together before the right-back chose to leave for Manchester City in 2017.

Six years later and Walker now has five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League to show following his move to the Etihad. Kane admits, that while he's happy for his mates, it hurt to see them celebrating while he still waits for that feeling.

“As a competitor, when the boys are playing the Champions League and I am just sitting at home watching it, I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that hurt,” Kane added.

Samuel Meade