Bayern München are in the market for a new No. 9. Everyone knows it.
After selling Robert Lewandowski in the summer transfer window to Barcelona so that the Polish superstar could embark upon a new challenge in an effort to obtain more respect for his legacy, Bayern decided to stand pat at striker.
Their plan was to use Sadio Mané in the middle just like Liverpool did in the previous season, making him someone the likes of Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry, and Kingsley Coman could play off of on the wings. Jamal Musiala and Thomas Müller would support him more centrally.
Though there were some promising moments at the beginning, Mané didn’t play his best football up top for Bayern. After Bayern moved him back to his best position on the left, he returned to his usual form.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, an experienced Bundesliga striker known for his all-around game, moved into the starting XI as the primary option up top and was sensational.
But it’s hard to expect Choupo-Moting to keep scoring goals at such a high rate. He’s a great squad player, but he’s never been a great starting striker in his career or a proven goal-scorer. Bayern can’t count on the 33-year-old as a long-term option as the 9, though he can be part of the rotation.
There have been a number of names linked to Bayern on the transfer market. From young sensations like Randal Kolo Muani to late-blooming journeymen like Niclas Füllkurg to a well-rounded free option in Marcus Thuram, the Bundesliga has a few potential candidates for the record champions.
Yet the name most frequently linked to Bayern – and by far the most dreamy option – is Tottenham’s Harry Kane.
Bayern on the market
Bayern didn’t usually splurge on players. They didn’t need to. Even with Lewandowski, who could very well be the most talented outfield player to ever suit up for Die Roten, they managed to sign him for free from rivals Borussia Dortmund. Since that move, by the way, the Bundesliga has never been in doubt in Bayern’s favor.
Recently, that’s changed. Bayern have been more willing to make major signings for select players. Lucas Hernández and Matthijs de Ligt are recent examples of Bayern spending well over 50 million euros to sign young, world-class talents at a valuable position.
To Bayern, there is nothing more valuable than the 9. Throughout their history, they’ve had a strong man leading the line. Gerd Müller is the most iconic of them – and now Lewandowski – but even in recent history before Lewa, Bayern had great strikers. Claudio Pizarro, Roy Makaay, Luca Toni, Mario Gómez, and Mario Mandžukić were all prolific forwards for the club.
Nowadays, Bayern are showing even more ambition on the market, because, for them, the Bundesliga is not enough every year. That is now the expectation to win every season. They are building teams that can win the Champions League, because they know that with the right investment, they can rival any club as the competition’s most successful going forward.
Harry Kane is elite
Kane is one of the best players in world football. Though he gets some stick for his mistakes, such as missing a penalty in the World Cup, there is no questioning that he is one of the elite strikers and the most well-rounded besides Karim Benzema.
This season, Kane already has 15 goals in 18 matches for Tottenham, standing out as their clear leader and best hope to finish in the top four. Kane even had two goals and three assists in five World Cup matches, so the criticisms about the penalty shroud the fact that he was, once again, a top performer for his country.
Bayern like having strikers who can bring the wingers into the play, as Mandžukić did, Lewandowski could do, and Choupo-Moting is doing now. Kane is at a different level than those three in that aspect, having recorded 23 assists in the previous two seasons combined.
But at the end of the day, Die Roten crave a striker who can score goals. Lots of them. In that respect, Kane is also one of the world’s best.
Averaging nearly a goal per game in the Premier League is no joke. Even when he was struggling with injuries in 2018/19, Kane managed to score 17 goals. We are talking about a player who once scored 84 Premier League goals in a span of three straight seasons, which are numbers that could end up rivaling Lewandowski in the more free-scoring Bundesliga.
The complexity
It’s easy to see why Bayern would want to hold out for Kane as their top target. He can be the game-changing, 30-goal striker that Bayern feel they need.
Signing Kane won’t be easy, of course. Tottenham know he is the most valuable player they’ve ever had. Homegrown, Kane has stuck with Spurs since bursting onto the scene as a star player in 2014/15, even though the North London side has yet to win anything meaningful.
Kane appeared close to moving on from Spurs in 2021, as Premier League rivals were highly interested in signing the England international. Manchester City were the most frequently linked and had the economic power to make something happen, but Spurs held firm on wanting 150 million pounds. Basically, they weren’t interested in selling Kane, which is understandable.
Although Kane could have played a little dirty, as Lewandowski did, in order to leave Spurs, he was never going to do that. Because whereas Lewandowski was a free agent signing who played great football for Bayern, Kane means even more to Spurs as their clear superstar and a homegrown talent. He was never going to do that to Spurs and risk his reputation in England, as his standing as a leader on the national team is also vital.
So Kane has stayed. That does not mean he is going to stay forever. As Antonio Conte is emphasizing at every press conference, there is still a serious ambition problem at Spurs in the board, with Daniel Levy continuing to drag his feet on the transfer market.
Since his contract ends at the end of 2023/24, teams see an opportunity to get Tottenham to budge. Levy and Spurs no longer have as much leverage with Kane’s mega-contract finally winding down to what will be its final season after this one. That means that this summer is the only time Spurs could sell him for a profit, unless if he were to sign a short-term extension of some sort.
While Bayern would love to sign Kane for free like they did Lewandowski about nine years ago, they know that they will have to prepare a significant sum – more than what they paid for their high-priced center backs – to secure him.
The dating game
As Bayern play the waiting game, they are not doing so silently. It seems like every week, we see a new rumor linking Bayern to Kane in BILD or another prominent German newspaper with reporters that are closely linked to Bayern sources.
The transfer market is sometimes likened to dating in a tongue-in-cheek manner, which is sort of a cheesy simplification, but there are some similarities to high school-level flirting.
For example, Bayern have to show that they want Kane. But they can’t do that by publicly saying how much they want Kane to sign with them. Instead, they use the media. Constantly. They want Kane to know how much they are still interested in him by leaking information to reporters and getting local media to drop hints about the possible transfer.
This serves an important purpose. The whole point of going after Kane now is that his contract is running out. Bayern’s only chance to sign him is in the summer 2023 window with the threat of 2024 free agency as the impetus for a possible, immediate transfer. And although getting him for free would be ideal economically, Bayern need a striker sooner than that.
However, this entire plan goes into the gutter if Kane extends with Tottenham. If he looks at the landscape of football and doesn’t see anything that entices him more than staying with Spurs, he could extend with his beloved club. But if he sees the right challenge and a team that is legitimately interested, he will go for that spot.
Bayern could use a striker for the remainder of the 2022/23 season in order to increase their chances of winning the Champions League. Kane isn’t the only player they are linked to.
Randal Kolo Muani, Niclas Füllkrug, and Marcus Thuram have all been linked. Thuram would be very cheap but may not be interested in leaving for Bayern before the season ends. Füllkurg may not be of Bayern quality. Kolo Muani would be ideal, but Eintracht Frankfurt need him for the Champions League knockouts; they are under no pressure to sell him any time soon and will ask for a king’s ransom.
Above all else, Bayern haven’t shown any interest in these players. Even top media outlets closely linked to Bayern are dismissing every single one of these links, making it clear that Bayern only want one name, Kane.
Because if Bayern sign another striker or even show interest in other strikers, why would Kane want to go there? He wants to feel important, know that is a club that wants him, and know that there is no other competition in order for him to make a move. Signing a young, talented forward like Kolo Muani or Thuram would make Bayern seem less attractive to Kane.
Those options could all be backup plans for Kane if Kane does not end up wanting to join, but Die Roten have to show that the Tottenham striker is their clear top option.
Why Bayern may be ideal for Kane
It’s important for Bayern to have a good “pitch” for Harry Kane to join them. Die Roten, of course, would not try so hard to use the media to show interest in the player if they didn’t think they had a chance.
There are other options, including a world-class one in Dušan Vlahović, but Bayern aren’t showing interest in any of them because they know they have a legit shot at Kane. Given how good he is, they want to take it.
Kane may have hesitated at pushing to leave Spurs because the most seriously interested teams were within the Premier League. Joining Manchester United or Manchester City would be akin to a betrayal. Joining Chelsea in 2021? That would have been impossible, given the rivalry between Spurs and Chelsea.
Bayern, however, play in an entirely different league. They are not rivals to Spurs in any way. So if he were to leave for a different challenge and a new environment, people would be understanding.
He has given Tottenham his all for about a decade and is ready for something new in his career, respectfully leaving the club before the final year of his contract so that Spurs can cash-in. And leaving without truly haunting his old club in the Premier League.
As for Bayern itself, the club is one of the most prestigious in Europe. Just ask Romelu Lukaku. Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern München are the three clubs that stand at the top of the mountain in European football. These are the three most historic clubs in the world. When they come knocking, you have to listen.
Kane hasn’t won a major trophy in his career. Bayern win the league every year. Though it would be presumptuous to say that he would be guaranteed a title by moving there, his chances of winning at Bayern would be higher than literally anywhere else.
No club in Europe’s top five leagues has won more titles in a row. They also won the Champions League in 2019/20 and another one earlier in that decade, so he’d also stand a great chance of winning the UCL, especially since his presence would make an already great team that much stronger.
The beauty of München, the profile of the club, the chances of winning, and the lack of conflict between Bayern and Spurs make Die Roten seem like the most attractive destination for Kane. Nobody else seems to be showing major interest in him either.
Bayern have consistently put their names out there more than anyone else who could conceivably be interested. Barcelona already have Lewandowski. Real Madrid have Benzema, Endrick coming up behind him, and eyes constantly gazed on Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. PSG have Mbappé themselves.
All the other elite clubs outside England have a great striker. Except for Bayern. They know it, and Kane knows it. Get ready for this transfer saga to slowly heat up in the coming months before reaching a crescendo in June. Harry Kane to Bayern München is a transfer story to watch closely.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.