Poyet ´surprised´ by Kane´s Bayern Munich transfer

Harry Kane’s transfer to Bayern Munich came as a surprise to former Tottenham player and assistant boss Gus Poyet.

Kane completed a switch to the Bundesliga champions last week, signing a four-year deal in Munich.

That came after Bayern had finally struck an £86.4million (€100m) deal with Tottenham for the 30-year-old, who scored 30 Premier League goals last season.

The England captain made his debut in Bayern’s 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in the DFL-Supercup after saying he moved to Germany to win trophies.

For Poyet, the move was a shock, however, especially after Kane failed to seal a transfer to Manchester City in 2021.

“I was surprised at Kane leaving because I said it, and I’m not going to change my mind, two years ago I thought it was the time for him to go,” Poyet said in an interview with Stats Perform.

“I thought he’s experienced, still young, so at that age he was still at the top of his career, looking for titles or silverware.

“He didn’t [go], and it was a big shock for me, so I wasn’t expecting him to leave. I was not.

“Going now and going abroad surprised me quite a lot.”

Brentford 2-2 Tottenham

An entertaining draw in west London, with all four goals coming in an action-packed first half.

Spurs’ total of 452 successful passes in the opposition half was their highest tally in a Premier League game since New Years Day 2022.#BRETOT pic.twitter.com/lyxFo8kjuN

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) August 13, 2023

Poyet is happy that Kane is going to test himself in another competition.

He added: “I’m pleased for him because it’s going to be totally different for him, a new challenge completely different to England and I hope he does well because he deserves that feeling of winning a title.”

Spurs began the post Kane era with a 2-2 draw at Brentford in Ange Postecoglou’s first Premier League game in charge, and Poyet knows Tottenham will have a hard time replacing their former talisman.

“I’m really sad for the coach, because you go to Tottenham, and it’s your first job in the Premier League and your main man – the one who is going to score 20+ goals – is gone, so you need to replace him and it’s not easy,” said Poyet, who is nevertheless excited to see Spurs in action this season.

“I’m not saying they cannot score goals [with] their front three, I’m saying that it’s just different, and they’re going to have to adapt.

“I think we saw already in pre-season and the first game that Tottenham is going to be very, very entertaining.

“I would be surprised if a Tottenham game [involves] less than three goals – for or against – because this is the style of football.

“They’re going to be very offensive, they’re going to be creating a lot and obviously when you go too far that way [forward] you leave space the other way and everybody plays. It’s completely opposite to the way Spurs were playing in the last few years.”