Harry Kane is in Germany to seal his move to Bayern Munich in a deal that could rise to £120million.
Tottenham’s record goalscorer landed in Munich on Friday night for a medical ahead of his transfer to the Bundesliga giants.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou had revealed earlier in the day that the move was “imminent” after a breakthrough in negotiations between the clubs was reached on Wednesday night.
It left the ball in Kane’s court and he decided on Thursday to leave his boyhood club for Bayern, who will pay an initial £100m with add-ons potentially taking the deal up to an overall fee of £120m, the PA news agency understands.
Reports on Friday morning initially suggested Spurs had refused to give Kane permission to travel to Germany, but they were squashed by Tottenham and hours later he set off for Munich via a private jet from London Stansted airport.
Postecoglou, speaking before Spurs’ trip to Brentford on Sunday, said: “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.
“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 (it is) fairly evident Harry Kane will always be one of the greats for this football club.”
It remains to be seen whether the deal will be done in time for Kane to play any part in Bayern’s DFB Super Cup match with RB Leipzig on Saturday night.
However, with the clash taking place at Bayern’s Allianz Arena home, the England captain could well be unveiled to supporters before kick-off.
Bayern saw bids for Kane, who is in the last 12 months of his contract at Spurs, reportedly turned down in June and July but they made their intentions clear, with honorary president Uli Hoeness and president Herbert Hainer speaking openly in the media about the player’s desire to join the Bundesliga champions.
A third bid was submitted last Friday and 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 Postecoglou, confidence started to grow that he could spend the season with his boyhood team.
But Bayern’s latest bid proved enough for an agreement to be reached and, after taking his time to weigh up the decision, Kane decided to end his 19-year stay at Spurs.
It means his pursuit of Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record will be put on hold, with the Tottenham forward still 47 goals off equalling Shearer’s tally of 260.
However, the move will almost guarantee him the first major trophies of his career, as well as giving him a shot at Champions League glory.
Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel has been a long-term admirer of Kane but was coy when asked about the forward ahead of Saturday’s match with Leipzig.
Thomas Tuchel on the potential signing of Harry Kane: “We are working on it intensely, that much I can confirm. As of right now, no agreement has been reached, and when no agreement has been reached, then a coach will not comment on it, because it is not his player.” pic.twitter.com/GWhhTbwiGX
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) August 11, 2023
Tuchel told a press conference: “We are working with full pressure on this deal.
“I understand there are a lot of ifs and whens. All options are open. The first is to have him as a player and at the moment he is not yet that.
“This is a big deal. We are trying to take the England captain away from the Premier League.”
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