Tottenham’s record goal-scorer Harry Kane has landed in Germany to complete his move to Bayern Munich in a deal that could rise to £120million.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou confirmed on Friday afternoon that Kane’s transfer to the Bundesliga champions 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.
Kane landed at his soon-to-be new home city on Friday night to complete his medical ahead of a landmark move.
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.”
Kane faces a race against time to officially sign early enough to feature in Bayern’s DFL-Super Cup match with RB Leipzig on Saturday night.
However, with the clash taking place at Bayern’s Allianz Arena home, England captain Kane could well be unveiled to supporters before kick-off, even if the paperwork is not completed in time.
This is not the first summer in which Kane’s future has dominated headlines after Manchester City had a failed pursuit in 2021.
Kane sat out the first match of that season – coincidentally against City – but Pep Guardiola’s side never got close to agreeing a fee with Tottenham for the forward.
With Kane now into the last 12 months of his contract at Spurs, speculation over his future this time always felt more significant.
Bayern saw bids reportedly turned down in June and July but made their intentions clear, with honorary president Uli Hoeness and president Herbert Hainer speaking openly in the media about Kane’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 Kane took his time to weigh up the decision, he decided it was the right time to end his 19-year stay at Spurs.
It means Kane’s pursuit of Alan Shearer’s Premier League goal-scoring record will be put on hold, with the Tottenham forward still 47 goals off equalling Shearer’s tally of 260.
He will leave N17 as the club’s leading marksman after he surpassed Jimmy Greaves’ 266-goal record in February with the winner against Manchester City.
Kane will also get the chance to fulfil his career-long ambition of winning trophies at Bayern, while remaining in the Champions League.
Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel has been a long-term admirer of Kane, but he was coy when asked about the forward ahead of Saturday’s match with Liepzig.
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.”
T&T women to get much-needed competitive action against Aruba, Curacao in Carib Queen's tourney
After months of inactivity, Trinidad and Tobago senior women's football team will get the opportunity to shake the proverbial rust, as they are set to participate in the three-team Caribbean Queen's tournament in Curacao from May 28 to June 3.
An invitation from Curacao Football Federation was welcomed by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), as participation in the tournament will not only assist in player development, but more importantly, will keep players engaged ahead of next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
The week-long tournament, which will also involve Aruba, will see each team will play each other twice, in what will be Trinidad and Tobago’s senior team’s first competitive outing since their Concacaf women's Gold Cup qualifying campaign, last year.
"The respective member associations have been working together to facilitate the tournament to provide competitive matches for our respective women's teams as there are no Concacaf or Fifa women's competitions this year," TTFA said.
The team will once again be led by former Police FC coach Richard Hood, who will be assisted by Rajesh Latchoo, the TTFA Director of Youth Football and Under-17 women's coach.
Hood's squad is expected to be a development team, featuring senior players, members of TTFA's ongoing High Performance programme, and standout performers from the 2024 Republic Bank National Youth Football League campaign.
"This tournament is viewed as an ideal opportunity to continue to expose our younger players to a competitive environment," TTFA stated.
The women Soca Warriors will kick off the tournament against Aruba on May 29, before crossing swords with host Curacao, a day later. After a two-day break, Hood's team will wrap up the friendly competition with matches on June 2 and 3 respectively.
Last year, the women Soca Warriors finished bottom of their three-team Concacaf women's Gold Cup qualifying group with Mexico and Puerto Rico. They ended with a solitary point from four matches.
Trinidad and Tobago women are ranked 75th, while Curacao and Aruba are ranked 179th and 185th respectively.
'The grass is not always greener' – Chelsea target Frank in no rush to leave Brentford
Reported Chelsea target Thomas Frank is in no rush to leave Brentford, saying "the grass is not always greener" for managers who choose to jump ship.
Chelsea are hunting their fourth permanent boss under the Todd Boehly regime, having surprisingly parted ways with Mauricio Pochettino by mutual consent on Tuesday.
With the Blues reportedly looking for a dynamic young coach capable of working within their existing set-up, Ipswich Town's Kieran McKenna and Bees boss Frank have been touted as possible successors.
Brentford's finish of 16th in 2023-24 was their worst since Frank led them to the Premier League in 2021, but they remained comfortably clear of the drop zone despite battling a lengthy injury list and seeing Ivan Toney suspended for the first half of the season.
Across their three seasons in the Premier League, Brentford rank ninth for expected goals (xG) per 90 minutes (1.44) and eighth for expected goals against (xGA) per 90 (1.38).
While Frank has refused to rule out a move after almost six years as Brentford's head coach, he is not actively searching for a new job.
"I will probably be on that touchline on August 17," Frank told The Athletic. "I think that will happen. I'm happy here. I've said it many times and I mean it.
"It's close to the perfect football life. I'm not in any rush or searching to do something else but I also think I've learned in life I'm open for what can happen.
"I can see myself being here for a long period. Can I stay here for seven more years? I don't know and that's not that I don’t love Brentford, it's just, do I want to try something different?
"I'm very aware the grass is not always greener in the garden next door, even if it looks like it. You get in there, take a closer look and see there are a lot of weeds in the grass."
Brentford have already seen set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva agree to join Chelsea, and reports have suggested the Blues' hierarchy were unimpressed with how Pochettino's staff dealt with dead balls.
Brentford ranked second for xG from set-pieces in the Premier League this season (15.7) and allowed opponents the third lowest xGA figure from such situations (8.6), behind only Arsenal and Manchester City.
Newcastle United 1-1 Tottenham (5-4 pens): Magpies win controversial Australia friendly
Newcastle United overcame Tottenham on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Wednesday's controversial friendly in Melbourne, just three days after the end of the Premier League season.
A crowd of 78,419 packed into Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch two of the Premier League's top seven face off in a post-season game which had been criticised on player welfare grounds.
James Maddison celebrated being named in England's preliminary Euro 2024 squad by firing home Spurs' opener after 32 minutes, before his Three Lions team-mate Kieran Tripper was substituted after just 36 minutes.
Alexander Isak levelled from close range on the stroke of half-time, and the game went straight to spot-kicks after neither team was able to force a second-half winner.
Bryan Gil was denied by Mark Gillespie from Tottenham's first kick, with the nine subsequent attempts all successful as the Magpies triumphed 5-4.
After the game, Newcastle boss Howe moved to allay fears over Trippier's condition, saying his withdrawal was planned.
"We spoke with Kieran and thought the best thing to do was for him to start the game," Howe said.
"He's still in the early stages of recovery from his calf problem, we didn't want to take risks with him so half an hour was the aim. No injury there."
Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, immediately turned his attentions towards the transfer window after failing to oversee a win in his native Australia.
"Last year, it certainly benefited us having a couple in early and having all the whole squad for pre-season," he said.
"Everyone wants to do business early, everyone is keen to bring players in but the reality of it is it usually takes a little bit of time.
"But the good thing for us is we know what we need to do, we've had the plan in place for quite a while and it's just about now going through that process."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
