Harry Kane was able to dress up his move to Bayern Munich in 2023 as a desire to experience something new, but, really, the switch from north London to Bavaria depicted the striker’s desperation to fill a blank on his résumé.
Kane had given Tottenham Hotspur his all. An academy graduate written off when he first emerged among the seniors, with Rafael van der Vaart later admitting he thought a teenage Kane was “useless”, subsequently became the face of the club’s most prosperous era in decades.
The striker grew with Mauricio Pochettino’s exciting Lilywhites, then held the club afloat amid an identity crisis in the aftermath of the Argentine’s demise. Kane became Spurs’ all-time record goalscorer in early 2023, just before Antonio Conte’s tenure came to an explosive halt, and the Italian’s project was deemed the last their great striker would buy into.
He was done with rebuilds and a potential fairytale. He wanted a guarantee to quench his silverware thirst. Where better than Bayern Munich, who entered the 2023–24 season having won 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles?
Harry Kane has as many club goals this season as the rest of the current England squad combined.
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) October 9, 2025
Leading the Pride by example. pic.twitter.com/KXqrAgPSLn
Harry Kane is No Stranger to Importance of Legacy
Kane’s admiration for American football icon Tom Brady is well-documented. A fan of the New England Patriots, he watched on into the early hours of his wintery Sunday nights as Brady spearheaded the Patriots’ second dynasty of the 21st century.
It was in 2017 when Brady inspired the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history against the Atlanta Falcons, and Kane was in Atlanta for the Patriots’ sixth Super Bowl success two years later. These triumphs thrust the legacy of the once-overlooked Michigan quarterback into an impenetrable realm, and Brady’s seventh ring in a wildly different environment rendered any ’GOAT’ debates futile. There was no longer a discussion to be had.
The GOAT Tom Brady and MVP @Edelman11 ! Let’s Go!!! 🏆🐐 #SuperBowl #SBLIII pic.twitter.com/m5etwc3hzY
— Harry Kane (@HKane) February 4, 2019
However, as he prepared for life in Munich, Kane, up until that point, had been the antithesis of his sporting idol: a nearly man. More Dan Marino than Brady.
The English centre-forward is the finest goalscorer not only Tottenham, but his country, also, have ever had. Six weeks after breaking Jimmy Greaves’ Spurs record, Kane surpassed Wayne Rooney’s haul for the Three Lions with a penalty amid a historic win in Rome.
His capacity to complete the hardest action the sport has to offer has never been questioned, though. Instead, Kane had developed a reputation for failing to come to the fore when it mattered most. He was a Premier League runner-up with Spurs, and a beaten finalist in the Carabao Cup (twice) and UEFA Champions League. On the international stage, England have been World Cup semifinalists and on the cusp of conquering the continent, but never have they crossed the threshold with Kane as their leading man.
His fatal penalty miss in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinal against France represented the harshest nadir.
Bayern Munich Tracking to Deliver Success Kane Craves
The absence of collective success forced Kane to ditch the comfort of N17 for the guarantee of Munich. The striker had the chance to quickly shift perceptions and potentially make a swift return in a bid to break Alan Shearer’s all-time Premier League scoring record. He’s only 47 adrift.
However, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen threw a spanner in the works. A historic campaign knocked Kane’s Bayern off their perch, and Die Roten’s first trophy-less campaign since 2011–12 only perpetuated the harsh notion that Kane was a "loser" who’d perhaps just have to accept that he’d never fill the gaping void on his CV.
The Englishman claimed the European Golden Shoe despite his side’s issues, scoring 36 times in the Bundesliga.
Things have been rosier for Bayern with Vincent Kompany at the helm, although Kane’s Bundesliga triumph last season was soured by Spurs’ later Europa League success—an achievement that surely would’ve meant so much more to the Chingford-born sharpshooter.
His third year in Munich is currently tracking to be his most productive, with Kane recently bringing up his 100th goal for the Bavarian behemoths at a faster rate than anybody ever has for one club competing in one of Europe’s top five leagues since 1992. Robert Lewandowski’s single-season Bundesliga scoring record is in his sights.
Erling Haaland is a freak, but Kane is the best striker on the planet. A goal machine who’s evolved into a Swiss Army knife, and fittingly drawn comparisons to a "quarterback" from compatriot Anthony Gordon. While there’s previously been an odd reluctance in his homeland to accept his brilliance, more are coming around to the idea of Kane’s majesty now that he’s in a faraway land, incapable of tormenting their favourite team. Well, unless you’re Chelsea.
With the monkey finally off his back and goals arriving easier than ever, Kane must now think about the legacy he wishes to cultivate.
Is Premier League Return Necessary?
He’s leading a Bayern side that have impressively evolved in year two under Vincent Kompany, with the six-time European champions, at this early juncture, performing like legitimate Champions League contenders and dominant Bundesliga winners.
Should he retain this level of performance amid a continental conquest, there’s no doubt that Kane, who’s already Bayern’s 17th all-time leading scorer, would thrust himself into a similar realm of Lewandowski’s standing in Bavaria, even if the Pole’s scoring record with Die Roten is bettered only by the unimpeachable Gerd Müller.
While there’s a career-defining individual record crying out for his attainment in England, Kane could opt for an alternate path during his potentially extensive twilight. After reports emerged of his Bayern release clause, the striker admitted that he was adamant he’d return to the Premier League when he first made the move to Central Europe, but his experience in southern Germany has seemingly shifted his priorities during the remaining years of his career.
By asserting such imperious dominance at a supergiant for numerous years, all while competing fiercely for the most lucrative honours, Kane would give himself a chance of not only establishing himself as a modern-day Bayern hero, but as one of the greatest strikers to ever do it.
He’s currently recognised as a generation-defining forward compared with the likes of Lewandowski, Karim Benzema and Luis Suárez, but if he crafts a CV laden with silverware to complement the relentless goalscoring and classy playmaking, why can’t Kane sit at the same table as the likes of Müller, Marco van Basten and Ronaldo Nazário? Perhaps it’ll take a World Cup lift for those currently laughing at their screen and preparing a post on X to decry that claim to come around. It’s blasphemous to compare anybody to the nostalgic superstars of yesteryear, let alone serial loser Harry Kane, right?
The Englishman may well consider doing it all. He saw Brady perform at an elite level well into his 40s and, in a more relevant context, Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimović should serve as inspiration. Kane turned 32 in July. He may well have the time to pump up that CV in Munich and return to score those elusive 48 Premier League goals. That’s two great seasons or three good ones.
However, strikers in their mid-30s aren’t designed to prosper in the Premier League. Brady benefited from the sunshine of Tampa amid his defiance of Father Time, and Germany’s winter breaks, as well as the reduced quality of defensive personnel, may function as the key preservers of a career that has the potential to evolve from perpetually almost to stunningly complete.
Staying at Bayern and winning everything there is to win may well be the move after all. That’ll do more for his legacy than the ultimate goalscoring feat back home. Thierry Henry and Sergio Agüero’s careers weren’t defined by their inability to topple Shearer, and neither will Kane’s.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Harry Kane No Longer Needs Premier League Return to Shape Legacy.
