Harry Kane did not know if his transfer from Tottenham to Bayern Munich was going to go through after a “roller coaster” two days.
Kane has endured a whirlwind 72 hours since Spurs agreed a fee with the German club on Thursday, which culminated in the England captain being unveiled before the press on Sunday lunchtime.
He had already made his debut by then, coming on as a substitute in the second half of the DFL-Supercup, but his wait for the first silverware of his career goes on after Bayern lost 3-0 to RB Leipzig.
It was a race against time for Kane to be registered in time to play after his flight to Germany and subsequent medical was delayed after Spurs went back to the negotiating table at the last minute.
The £100million deal eventually got done, though Kane admits he was left sweating for a while.
“It was obviously a busy couple of days, a busy week, this is my first transfer that have been involved in, it was an up-and-down experience for sure, but I am happy to be here now,” he said.
“I wish Tottenham all the best, I wish Daniel Levy all the best, but my focus is here now and trying to help this time and I am just happy we managed to do it and am excited to get started.
“Talks have been ongoing for a couple of months ago and I always said if there was a deal that suited all three parties then we could do it.
“Going into the last year of my contract I didn’t want it to be a distraction for the new manager and team at Tottenham. I was excited to come.
“The last 48 hours of the deal was pretty up and down, a bit of a roller coaster, but I was just really happy when we got over the line.
“Two days ago I was sitting in London and we didn’t know how it was going to go.”
The 30-year-old, who broke Tottenham’s all-time goalscoring record last season, departs a club he joined as an 11-year-old and one where he was desperate to win silverware.
It became apparent over the last few seasons that he would not be able to fulfil his ambitions at Spurs and, with one year left on his contract, knew it was time to move on, even though he did not get the chance to say goodbye.
“It is always going to be a tough decision, I was at Tottenham for 19 years of my life, everyone knows the club is connected with me and my heart,” he said. “I’m professional and always pushed myself to my limits.
“I just felt like the time was right, I needed to be playing at the highest level, in the Champions League, trying to win titles every year.
“When I thought about it and Bayern got in touch it was a decision I wanted to make.
“I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye, I sent the group a text that I was leaving and when I get the chance to go back, I’ll go in and say goodbye properly.
“Not just the players, but the staff, the chefs, the kitmen, the physios, people I have spent 15 years of my life with. I didn’t have that time because it was so up and down, but for sure over the next few weeks I’ll get some time.”
Kane leaves the Premier League only 48 goals shy of Alan Shearer’s all-time record, but hinted at returning one day in a bid to surpass the former Newcastle and Blackburn striker.
“People will talk about Shearer but I have got plenty of football left in my career,” he said.
“For now I am just trying to concentrate on trying to achieve things here, trying to push myself and push the team to try and reach new levels for this club. That is what my focus is on now.”
Kane’s move to Germany is complicated that his wife Kate is heavily pregnant with their fourth child.
She will return to London on Monday with the rest of their young family, with Kane saying a decision will be made on where she gives birth.
“My wife Kate was really supportive, she wants the best for me and my career so she said to push, she wants me to be playing and happy and that is why we made the decision,” Kane added.
For Bayern to get Kane represents a big statement of intent as they try to conquer Europe against after a couple of lean seasons in the Champions League.
But their biggest victory might have been in successfully completing cordial negotiations with Spurs chairman Levy, an achievement a host of clubs have failed at.
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CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen got on so well with Levy that he intends to buy him dinner.
He said: “Daniel and I got closer in the last couple of weeks, that is for sure.
“It was quite a tough negotiation, Daniel is a very friendly person but he knows what he wants. So two people who knew exactly what they wanted came together and that is why it took a bit longer.
“But in the end both of us do have good feelings and that is why I will pay for dinner with him.”
Back at Spurs, new captain Son Heung-min believes Richarlison can help the club fill the gap left by Kane’s departure.
Son told Sky Sports before their Premier League match at Brentford: “We’ve lost one of the best strikers in the world, but I think we have a good player to replace him.
“Obviously H (Kane) has scored so many goals, so every attacking player should take a big responsibility to score some goals.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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