He knew it, the Premier League knew it, the manager Ange Postecoglou knew it and the world knew it that the only reason Harry Kane left his one true love, Tottenham Hotspur, for Bayern Munich is because he was desperate to win something of significance.
That decision has turned out to be an unwise one because Kane, despite his goalscoring exploits at 30-years-old – goalscoring exploits which have already matched Robert Lewandowski’s at the Bavarian club – has failed to win three of the four titles on offer.
All he has left is the UEFA Champions League, where Manchester City or Real Madrid, Arsenal and – after the quarter final clashes on Tuesday night – Paris Saint-Germain or Borussia Dortmund stand in his way.
It does not help that the fans have lost confidence in the team’s ability to deliver, especially after they capitulated in the domestic competitions. Thomas Tuchel being their manager has also not helped Kane even though he is enjoying the most prolific season of his career under the German.
Bayern, by stature, will always remain favourites for any trophy they are competing in. But Kane and his “curse” seems to be stronger than Der Rekordmeister’s trophy-winning capabilities.
Ange Postecoglou, who had an incredible pre-season with the England national team captain and planned a lot of the team’s tactics around him before getting his heart broken, was approached recently with the big question. The Australian was asked if Kane’s move would be considered a failure and if it should not have happened.
“No, I don’t think that’s fair [to judge Kane for leaving for Bayern],” said the Australian in response. “I’m not going to speak for Harry, for God’s sake.”
“But I don’t think that’s the only reason he left. I think he was pretty clear that he wanted a different experience and I think there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“That’s been my whole career. He was at one club for a very long time. He was at a point where he either makes a decision to stay and become a one-club man, which is fair enough, or he can experience something different as a footballer, maybe as a person.”
“I don’t know. These are questions for him. But I don’t get this notion that he just moved just to win things.”
“I don’t think if he had stayed here he didn’t think he was going to win things. I just think he wanted a different experience and he’s getting that.”
Postecoglou has done the honourable thing by standing by Spurs’ most legendary figure. The problem remains the media, the fans and Kane’s own thoughts, which will burden him with many “What If?” questions.
