Bayern Munich set sights on other target amid transfer statement
Tottenham Hotspur record-breaker Harry Kane has dealt a blow to Bayern Munich by suggesting that his future lies in the Premier League, where he hopes to break Alan Shearer’s all-time goal-scoring record.
Kane’s 15th-minute goal in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Manchester City moved him past Jimmy Greaves as Spurs’ all-time leading scorer with 267 goals for his boyhood club.
It also saw him reach the 200-goal mark in the Premier League, and the forward is now 60 goals short of Shearer’s Premier League record.
While Kane’s current contract is set to expire in 18 months, the news of the England captain’s desire to stay in his home country will come as a blow to Bayern, it will be welcomed by another admirer, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
‘I’m sure you’ll be talking about it,’ Kane spoke about Shearer’s record. ‘It’s always there in the back of my mind, but I just take it game by game, season by season,’ he says.
‘It’s definitely there to be broken, and I’m feeling good and fit, so we’ll see what happens,’ she says.
‘I’m extremely proud to represent this club, and to have scored 267 goals for them as well as 200 Premier League goals is something I’ll never take for granted. I just have to keep going, score as many as I can, and see where it goes from there.’
Kane spoke to Spurs fans inside the stadium after the win over City before returning to the dressing room and being congratulated over the phone by manager Antonio Conte, who watched the game from Italy after having gallbladder surgery last Wednesday.
‘He was on the phone and he just kind of congratulated me on the achievement and just said he was proud of all the boys,’ Kane added.
‘It’s obviously been a difficult week, we’re all happy the surgery went well and he’s recovering well.
‘We demonstrated that we are a unit, a team. I’m sure he was beaming as he watched. It was the kind of performance where we knew exactly what we needed to do.
‘It wasn’t going to be easy at times; we had to dig deep and really suffer and be together, but I thought everyone gave it their all throughout.’
Tottenham’s win over City was their first against a top-six opponent this season.
Conte’s team has struggled with consistency, but they are now a point behind fourth-placed Newcastle and appear to be gaining momentum after three consecutive wins in the league and FA Cup.
‘We talked about getting back to what we’re good at, being compact, after losing 4-2 to City last month, and we did that at Fulham and we did it again here,’ Kane said.
‘That is the norm. If we can do it against one of the league’s best teams, we can do it against anyone, so those are the expectations we’ve set for ourselves. We must strive not to fall behind them in any game.
‘Clean sheets are crucial; they win games. We believe we have enough firepower to score, but we must work hard from top to bottom to keep the ball out of the net.’