Harry Kane's Premier League plan remains in tact ahead of Bayern Munich contract call

View 3 Images

For someone who has always insisted personal milestones are trumped by team achievements, Harry Kane has never been shy of celebrating personal awards.

Despite Tottenham Hotspur finishing seventh in the table, Kane won the Premier League’s Golden Boot and Playmaker (most assists) awards for the 2020/21 season and took both trophies on holiday. He posted a photograph of them poolside.

During the 2018 festive season, Kane took to social media to show his Christmas tree, as quite a few footballers do. Only Kane’s was not topped with a star or an angel - it was topped with the Golden Boot he had won at the 2018 World Cup.

All lovely stuff. But there is no disbelieving him when Kane says his hunger for team trophies is his major driving force.

He now has two Bundesliga winners’ medals to take on holiday but a Champions League victory would be a crowning moment in his career. Remember 2019? Kane was injured in the first leg of Spurs’ quarter-final tie against Manchester City in early April but just about made it back for the final against Liverpool on June 1.

He was anonymous in a 2-0 defeat. That will still hurt. Seven years later, Kane is fundamental to Bayern’s Champions League hopes and, of course, to England’s World Cup hopes.

And the good news for club and country is that - three months short of his 33rd birthday - Kane is getting better. That verdict is not just based on statistics, although they are mightily impressive.

View 3 Images

He scored 41 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions for his club last season. This season, he has 53 goals in 45 appearances. Mind you, he had 14 assists last season and has six this season.

But while the numbers do not lie, they do not tell you the full story. Watch a Bayern game to get the full story.

And that is Kane being smarter than ever, sharper than ever, more intelligent than ever, and looking fitter than ever. No wonder Bayern, who are in Paris for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night, want him to sign a new agreement and stay in Munich beyond the summer of 2027 when his current deal ends.

Kane is clearly loving his time there but perhaps the most likely course he will plot will be to stay for another season and return to the Premier League at the end of his contract. Because those personal milestones do matter.

View 3 Images

And if he does come back in the summer of next year, he would be 34 at the start of the 2027-28 Premier League season and would back himself to still have a minimum of four years at the very top. Robert Lewandowski, the former Bayern Munich great who will be 38 this August, scored two goals for Barcelona on his 34th birthday and has scored another 116 since.

Kane could have another season in Munich, come back to England in 2027 and still set a new Premier League goalscoring record. He currently trails Alan Shearer’s mark of 260 by 47. But that will be on the back burner for now.

The next individual achievement on his horizon will be the most prestigious one in the game. And his performance against PSG will be the start of his Ballon D’Or audition. It should be a great watch.

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.