Harry Kane to Bayern Munich was not just the transfer saga of the summer.
Despite being in the works for over a year, by the time it was finally completed it had
survived meddling executives, prankster journalists and a dramatic late crisis.
This is the story of Harry Kane’s move to Germany.
Contact with Kane was first made in 2022 by Bayern’s then sporting director
Hasan Salihamidzic. Initially, with Kane still having two years left on his contract, Bayern
were put off by the fee and by their perception that Kane didn’t seem committed to the idea.
As the 2022-23 season drew to a close, though, there were meetings at Kane’s home in London
between, him, manager Thomas Tuchel and Kane’s representatives. Tuchel and Kane got on well and
remained in touch. Bayern were now left with the impression Kane was interested.
Convincing Kane was one part of the challenge,
but convincing Spurs and Daniel Levy to sell was another.
With encouragement, though, Bayern’s interest intensified,
and they made their first move on June 27th with an offer of €70million (£60m) plus add-ons.
Spurs swiftly rejected it.
They turned down a second offer too, but the sense was that Spurs’ position was shifting:
they now accepted they either had to convince Kane to sign a new deal or face up to the fact that
selling him for big money was their only option. The idea of Kane leaving as a free agent at the
end of his contract in 2024 and potentially moving to a domestic rival was unpalatable.
They offered a new contract in early July worth
£400,000 per week that would have nearly doubled his wages. Kane was on holiday
at this point, but his position was still that he wouldn’t be extending,
On Sunday, July 9, Bayern contacted Tottenham again and inquired about whether upping their
original bid by €10million to €80million plus add-ons would shift the dial. Again,
Tottenham were unmoved, but so was Kane.
He returned to training a couple of days later and had a good meeting with Ange Postecoglou,
the new head coach. But his position was becoming more entrenched: he would not be extending
The next day, July 13, Levy met with Bayern Munich CEO
Jan-Christian Dreesen for breakfast in a London hotel.
No offer was made and no price was quoted. Instead,
Dreesen and Levy discussed more generally how a deal might work. Could Bayern, for instance,
speak to one of its many big commercial partners and get some financial support?
Levy was said to be extremely cordial throughout the process,
though Bayern wondered whether there was going to be a late sting.
There was – but from their own side.
While Spurs were in the air travelling to Australia for pre-season on Saturday,
July 15, Bayern’s honorary president, Uli Hoeness, entered the saga, saying to the German media that:
“(Kane) has clearly signalled in all conversations that his
decision stands — and if he keeps to his word, then we’ll get him.
… Tottenham will have to buckle because it’s not
possible for such a club to do without 80, 90million…”
Hoeness’ intervention was seen as unhelpful by other board members. The comment also angered
Levy, but it also showed him that Bayern were prepared to spend big.
On Saturday, July 22, there were more antics. During a press-conference,
Postecoglou was presented with a Bayern shirt with ‘Kane 9’ on
the back by a journalist from Bild, Germany’s largest tabloid newspaper.
Postecoglou and Tottenham were seriously unimpressed and the journalist was banned.
But it was around this time that Kane offered a firm commitment to move to Munich. His pregnant
wife, Kate, also travelled to the city to look at houses and health clinics.
It was in Bangkok that Kane sat down with Tottenham and made it clear that
he would like to join Bayern and that he would prefer a deal done by the start of the season.
Back in Germany, Bayern’s CEO Dreesen and technical director
Marco Neppe stayed behind as the club flew off to Singapore for
their pre-season tour. They wanted to be in Europe for face-to-face talks.
And on Monday, July 31, they flew to London to meet with Levy.
The two clubs remained around £25million apart during their negotiation, but after
the meeting Bayern’s executives were on the phone with Levy late into the night.
Then, a spanner in the works. Conscious of Kane’s
wish to conclude a deal before the start of the Premier League season,
Bayern set a soft deadline via email of their third bid being accepted by the weekend.
That did not go down well with Levy,
who thought it showed them a lack of respect. But the club were being backed into a corner.
Bayern’s third bid was rejected, but they were undeterred and almost immediately prepared to
make a fourth on August 10th. Finally, they found the right figure. An offer worth more
than €100million was accepted and the ball was now in Kane’s court.
Even after agreements in full, there were, incredibly, still twists.
Having been given permission to fly to Munich on the 11th August,
Kane was informed at the last minute not to fly by Bayern. Instead, he was holed
up in limbo at Stansted Airport on the Friday afternoon, with his move very much in jeopardy.
In Germany, Bayern officials were getting tetchy, feeling Tottenham were moving the
goalposts. Such was the paranoia, Friday’s delay had some people at Bayern wondering
if it was all a ruse to stop Kane playing in the German Super Cup on Saturday night
and winning his first trophy of his career 24 hours after joining. Bayern would lose that game,
but – at the time – it was perceived as a PR disaster Spurs wouldn’t contemplate.
The 11th hour poker was overcome, though.
Kane was finally allowed to take his flight and when he reached Sabener Strasse – Bayern Munich’s
training ground – in a bright-red Audi, a swarm of journalists and fans were there to meet him,
and give a welcome befitting the most expensive player in Bayern Munich’s history.