Harry Kane is confident he will win silverware with Bayern Munich this season before trying to lead England to Euro 2024 glory in Germany.
The 30-year-old is blazing a trail in the Bundesliga following his summer move from Tottenham, scoring 28 goals in 27 games as Bayern are locked in a title race with Bayer Leverkusen and also in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
He hopes his goals continue Bayern’s domination of German football before aiming for more glory in his new homeland with England in the European Championship.
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“I’m feeling confident,” he told the PA news agency. “Bayern Munich have been winning their league for the last 11 years or so and also won the Champions League a few years ago, there’s an expectation to be winning every trophy that we’re in.
“The focus is to win both tournaments.”
Asked whether the summer tournament was England’s best chance of ending their trophy drought, he said: “I would probably say ‘yes’, if you look how close we got in the last Euros and getting knocked out in the quarter-final to a great team in France.
“I am just looking at it from a point of view where our experiences as a team, our different ages in terms of having good younger players, good experienced players, young exciting players.
“When you look around the European nations now, we will be looked at as one of the favourites.
“There won’t be too many teams wanting to play us but games in tournaments are hard to win, they’re not easy, that’s why we haven’t won one in 60 years.
“We have to go there and try and achieve it. A great opportunity for us. We’re in a great moment as a team, but as always, we have to go there and make it happen so it is an exciting challenge to do that but a tough one as well.”
As he enters the second phase of his career, Kane has already shown his sustainability in the game, but is also tackling the matter off the pitch.
He has invested in golf sportswear brand Reflo, whose mission is to become the most sustainable apparel brand in the world by using materials derived from single-use plastic waste.
Kane, who will wear the Reflo brand when playing pro-am and exhibition competitions, has tackled social issues such as children’s mental health through his Harry Kane Foundation and now wants to learn more about sustainability.
“It’s more me as a father looking into the future and looking at my kids and thinking, ‘What can I do to help their future’,” he said.
“Sustainability is something that I know not too much about, I am still learning and getting to know more about it but when I am looking to partner or invest in brands, I want to see what they are doing for the future as well.
“Reflo are definitely hitting that market and trying to help a lot of other people understand about being sustainable and the impact that can have on the world itself. I am hoping to learn more as the relationship grows.”
Reflo have pledged to plant 500 trees for every goal that Kane scores in the 2023/24 season so they are going to be busy, with the England captain hitting the ground running in Germany.
Kane became a record breaker twice in the space of two months last season as he broke Jimmy Greaves’ all-time scoring for Tottenham and then became England’s greatest ever scorer the following month.
He has another achievement in his sights with Bayern as he chases down Robert Lewandowski’s seasonal record of 41 goals in the Bundesliga.
Kane, with 24 goals in 20 games so far, admitted he did not expect to be as prolific as he has been but was not focusing on eclipsing Lewandowski’s tally just yet.
“I didn’t know what to expect. I always believed in myself and I had scored goals every year in the Premier League and that’s what I wanted to go and do in the Bundesliga,” he added.
“I probably didn’t picture scoring as many goals as I have now at this stage of the season. But you know me, I don’t like to put a limit on anything.
“I don’t like to think about records in particular, they are a consequence of hard work and doing all the little stuff off the pitch that put you to where you are on it.
“My focus is on the short term and then as we get closer and we get towards the end of the season and I am in touching distance, then for sure it will be something I would love to achieve.”
Dewsbury-Hall: Maresca will surprise people at Chelsea
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will "surprise a lot of people" when they watch the Blues this season.
The Italian led Leicester City straight back to the Premier League as Championship winners in his only season in charge and succeeds Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
The Foxes topped the second division table with 98 points, with Dewsbury-Hall a key figure in his squad as he netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists last season – his best tally in a single campaign.
Dewsbury-Hall was also named Leicester's Player and Players' Player of the Year.
The midfielder made the switch to West London earlier this month for £30million and is confident that Maresca will have Chelsea challenging for trophies in no time.
"The manager was a big catalyst in wanting me to come," Dewsbury-Hall told BBC Sport.
"I knew from Leicester, a club that went down and had a lot of problems, how he managed to galvanise that if everyone manages to buy into the system.
"I genuinely think in a short space of time we can be pushing for minimum top four - but more than that.
"He may be unknown for a lot of people, but he is top, top level. He will surprise a lot of people."
Chelsea's pre-season got off to a frustrating start as they were held to a 2-2 draw by League One side Wrexham in Maresca's first game in charge on Wednesday.
Dewsbury-Hall did not play in that match but is training with the squad in the United States and could feature in their next outing against Celtic on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is confident the manager's tactics will come across soon, with the players buying into his style.
"We've only been doing it for two or three weeks, but the combination plays are really quick and tidy," he added.
"That's after two weeks. I remember he said to us at Leicester after six months or a year, there might be teething problems at the start, but it will improve.
"Within the first week at Leicester, I was convinced this was top, top level. I felt a bit stupid; I thought I knew a lot about football, but he was teaching me things on a daily basis that I didn't really know before. He has an aura, he can be strict, or gentle and soft - he has both sides.
"I am getting the same feedback here with the lads. They've bought into it here from minute one which is exciting. With a system and philosophy, you need everyone to buy in because, if they do, you can really achieve something."
Ederson slams reports of rift with Man City backup Ortega
Ederson has hit out at reports of a rift between himself and fellow Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
The Brazilian was substituted after suffering a fractured eye socket in City's penultimate game of the Premier League season, a vital 1-0 win over Tottenham.
Ortega replaced him and made a brilliant save to deny Son Heung-min as City maintained their slender lead over Arsenal at the top of the table, sealing an unprecedented fourth straight title by beating West Ham five days later.
Ortega was widely lauded for his role in that triumph, and an article published by The Athletic this week suggested Ederson took issue with that praise.
However, the goalkeeper – who missed the Copa America as a result of his injury – has now moved to shut down those suggestions with a post to his Instagram story.
"I would like to clarify that the note published by The Athletic yesterday, referring to my alleged dissatisfaction with a co-worker, is completely false," he wrote.
"The alleged day reported was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult days of my career, when I suffered a fracture that prevented me from playing in the final stretch of the season and, consequently, from representing my country in the Copa America.
"At the time of the injury, my only thought was to continue in the match, defending City in the fight for the title.
"But the emotion of the match would be greater than the reality and, inevitably, I would not be able to continue as I would have liked due to the damage it caused, completely blocking my field of vision. I remain focused on preparing for the season."
Ederson has been linked with a transfer in recent days, reportedly attracting interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.
Slot's Liverpool success will be measured by trophies, says McAllister
Gary McAllister says Arne Slot must be prepared to aim high by targeting trophies if he is to be successful with Liverpool.
The Dutchman is set to begin his first season in charge of the Reds after being appointed as Jurgen Klopp's successor in May.
Liverpool enjoyed a trophy-laden spell under the German, winning their first-ever Premier League title, as well as a Champions League, a Club World Cup, a Super Cup, an FA Cup and two EFL Cups.
However, Slot was no stranger to success while at Feyenoord, leading the team to the Eredivisie title in 2022-23 before lifting the KNVB Cup in April during his final season with the club.
McAllister, who won five trophies in the two years he spent at Liverpool, says Slot's success will be determined by the silverware he collects.
"Liverpool is a club that's synonymous with winning, and when you don't win you fail," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"When there's a new management team, you're given a little bit more time, but the facts are Liverpool's target, I felt, and as a player that played against them for most of his career, the targets that Liverpool set, you go into every tournament looking to win it.
"You try to win every game and that's the expectation of the club and that's what makes it a very special club."
Klopp spent nine years at Liverpool, breaking club records as his team pushed for trophies on a regular basis.
The Reds enjoyed a club-record 68-match unbeaten run at Anfield over nearly four years in the Premier League between April 2017 and January 2021.
Klopp also oversaw three of the four most prolific seasons in Liverpool's history, including the club-record total of 147 goals scored in 2021-22.
Slot has admitted he has "big shoes to fill", but McAllister believes the 45-year-old will be able to live up to the high expectations left behind by Klopp.
"Arne arriving at the club, following Klopp, realising that it's such a difficult job anyway, but to follow somebody who's done particularly well at the club over an eight, nine-year period is going to be tough, and I don't think the new manager is under any illusions," he added.
"What I would say is he's a man that seems to be a very strong character, good personality, and he's just got to come in and be his own man and trust what he does.
"He's done very well in his previous managerial career and coming to Liverpool I feel is a natural progression in the levels of the game that he's worked at.
"So, everybody at the club will be deeply backing him and be right behind him, he'll have amazing support."
Liverpool's first pre-season game under Slot ended in a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End last week before the players flew out to the United States for a three-game tour.
They are also only one of two Premier League clubs yet to conduct any business in the transfer window so far, but McAllister urged fans to be patient with Slot while he gets settled in his new role.
"Whenever there's a change at a club, I think the fans have got to realise that it does take time for a new manager, a new coaching group to come in and get their ideas over to the players," he said.
"There's got to be a modicum of patience, but at Liverpool, expectation levels are very, very high and sometimes, in professional soccer, in elite soccer, patience is something that most managers don't get.
"As much as the fans have got to be aware that everything is new and there are new ideas, Arne and the players will want to get off to a quick start.
"I feel that this pre-season tour is going to help them start the season against Ipswich Town very strongly. I feel the games that they've got here in the US, here in Pittsburgh against Betis, and then we go to play Arsenal and Manchester United, the build-up is pretty good."
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