Harry Kane has a career-defining decision to make.
The England captain must choose whether to stay at Tottenham, the English team where he has been since 2004, or move to German giant Bayern Munich.
The clubs reportedly have reached an agreement regarding the transfer of Kane — for a deal worth more than 100 million euros ($110 million) — and now it is over to the striker to decide.
Neither club has commented officially about reaching an agreement for Kane. Tottenham has previously said Kane wasn’t for sale, but has held talks with Bayern in recent weeks.
Kane, who is the second highest-scoring player in Premier League history with 213 goals, is entering the last year of his contract at Spurs and can leave as a free agent in 2024. It puts pressure on Tottenham to sell him this summer if the club is to get any money for its star player.
Kane reached the Champions League final with Tottenham in 2019. However, he has never lifted a major trophy at the club and the team’s progress has stalled. An eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season meant Tottenham failed to qualify for European competition.
The three-time Premier League top scorer could be the key to revitalizing Bayern, which lacked a focused goal-scoring threat through the center last season after Robert Lewandowski left for Barcelona.
Bayern needed goal difference to beat Borussia Dortmund to the German title on the final day of a turbulent season in which its top Bundesliga scorer was Serge Gnabry with 14 goals. Two years ago, Lewandowski scored a record 41 goals.
However, there will be pressure to succeed immediately. Bayern’s last high-profile signing from the Premier League, Sadio Mané, was widely considered a flop after his arrival from Liverpool a year ago.
Mané’s departure for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and the sale of defender Lucas Hernández to Paris Saint-Germain helped to free up funds to sign Kane.
Kane’s move is also a symbolic moment for the England team, whose players are generally reluctant to leave the riches of the Premier League.
No permanent England captain has played for a club outside England since David Beckham at Real Madrid in 2006. England’s squad for its most recent games was entirely Premier League-based after Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham withdrew injured.
Kane has long been linked with Manchester United. However, United didn’t want to be drawn into protracted negotiations with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and opted for a younger option in Rasmus Hojlund, who joined for an initial 64 million pounds ($82 million) last week.
Tottenham’s first game of the new season is at Brentford on Sunday.
___
AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth in Duesseldorf, Germany, contributed to this report.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
