1 month ago
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England captain speaks
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Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich two years ago on the eve of the DFL Supercup fixture against RB Leipzig. But rather than winning his first club title, the match ended in disaster with Leipzig winning the game on Kane’s debut 3-0. The 2023/24 season would end without a title for Bayern Munich. Two years on, Kane would finally lift the Meisterschale with Bayern Munich in May and then experience redemption in the newly rebranded Franz-Beckenbauer-Supercup, scoring in yesterday’s 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart.
“It was a crazy 24 hours,” Harry Kane said when asked about his €95 million transfer from Tottenham to Bayern. To this day, it is the biggest deal in Bayern Munich history. “To move to a new club and play my first game with my new teammates. You know, the transfer went through in the early hours of that morning. So that was a whirlwind. It was hard to kind of take that all in, and obviously disappointing that we lost as well.” For Kane, the match against Stuttgart was then a bit of a chance of redemption? “Okay, it isn’t the biggest trophy we are going to play for this season, but it is important to have the momentum to start the year. We celebrate every trophy like the first and move on to the next one.”
For Kane, it was also important to start the season with a goal. The England captain opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a clinical finish. “Feels good to be honest,” Kane said when asked about the goal. “The first goal of the season is always important as a striker. I have been playing for many years now, but that feeling never gets old. Obviously, it was an important goal to help the team, and I am very happy with the win.” Getting that momentum going is also important, as there was only a short break between the FIFA Club World Cup and the start of the domestic season in Germany. “It’s been a short preseason,” Kane said. “We’ve had to get a lot of stuff done in a short space of time and to have this important game so early. Full credit to the boys and the way we played and the fully deserved win.”
Kane: Díaz is sharp and agile – Bayern squad one of the smallest “I played in”
With the short preseason in mind and the long season ahead, is Bayern’s squad big enough? Late on Friday, Bayern announced the transfer of winger Kingsley Coman to Al-Nassr. In addition, Stuttgart shut the door on Nick Woltemade joining Bayern. Transfermarkt can confirm talks with Chelsea to sign Christopher Nkunku. But those talks are still in the early stages. With all that in mind, Bayern Munich’s 25-player squad which also includes several younger players, seems a little thin for three competitions.
“It is one of the smallest squads I played in,” Kane said when confronted with the question. “There is still some time from now until the end of the transfer window. But that’s down to [director of sport] Max [Eberl] and [sporting director] Christoph [Freund] as well as the coach to make those kinds of decisions. We also have a couple of really good young players who have done well in preseason games. But yeah, we are a little light, if we are being honest, but from our point of view, we, the players, can’t control that. We just have to be ready for what opportunities come. The young players have to be ready. And then the guys above have to do what they feel is right for the squad.” Those young players are Paul Wanner, Lennart Karl, and Jonah Kusi-Asare. All three will have a legitimate chance to stick with the squad. Whether they can actually make an impact remains to be seen. Freund confirmed to the media on Saturday that Bayern, without naming specific names, are still in talks with other targets.
One player who is here and also had an instant impact on Saturday is Colombian winger Luis Díaz. Signed in a €70 million plus add-ons deal from Liverpool this summer, Díaz scored what turned out to be the winner (77’). “You can see what he brings one-v-one on the wing,” Kane said about Díaz. “He is really sharp and agile. I think the greatest asset, and that will be great for us this year, is the fact that he scores goals like he did today. He gets into that six-yard box, he makes those runs, and he’s got a great finish. I think that’s important, especially in modern football, for wingers to score 15-20 goals a season. That goal was a great run and a great finish. He had a couple of other chances that he was a bit unlucky with in the game, and to score the winner in his first competitive game for his new club will give him great confidence.”
