Harry Kane says he is open to extending his stay at Bayern Munich and believes a return to the Premier League is no longer guaranteed.
The England captain’s deal expires in 2027 and suggestions of a £56.7m release clause that can be activated at the end of this season led to speculation over his future. Thomas Frank, the Tottenham manager, has said Kane would be welcomed back if he wanted to move.
That remains a distant prospect, even though coming back to England would give Kane an opportunity to get the 48 goals he needs to break the Premier League’s scoring record. The 32-year-old is hungry for more success after winning the Bundesliga last season to end his wait for a trophy, and his views on playing in English football again have evolved in the two years since he left Spurs for Bayern.
“In terms of staying longer I could definitely see that,” Kane said. “I have not had those conversations with Bayern yet but if they were to arise I would be willing to talk and have an honest conversation. Obviously it depends on how the next year or so goes, what we achieve together. We are in a fantastic moment and I am not thinking about anything else.
“In terms of the Premier League, I don’t know. If you had asked me when I first left to go to Bayern, I would have said for sure I would come back. Now I have been there a couple of years I would probably say that has gone down a little bit, but I wouldn’t say I would never go back.
“I am fully all in with Bayern. If there was a conversation about extending then we will see, but I have still got this season and another season. It is not like I am in my last year, it is not like there is any panic. I am calm, I love the manager at Bayern and as long we are improving and I am improving then I am happy to see what we can achieve.”
Kane has made a sensational start to the season, scoring 19 goals for club and country. But he knows that being crowned the best player in the world will require winning the Champions League with Bayern or the World Cup with England next summer.
“I would love to win the Ballon d’Or,” Kane said. “Essentially it is a team trophy that the best individual from that team wins, so it is going to be a Champions League winner or a World Cup winner … It would be an accumulation of doing something great individually and as a team. It would be almost the perfect season.”
Harry Kane is preparing for England’s matches against Wales and Latvia. Photograph: George Wass/PPAUK/Shutterstock
Kane considered whether he has become a better player at Bayern. His analysis was that he is “seeing the game at the highest level I’ve ever had”. It was interesting to note that Vincent Kompany, Bayern’s manager, talked about Kane’s work out of possession after he scored twice against Chelsea last month.
“When you win a title maybe it could be easy to go the other way and be like: ‘OK I’ve done what I wanted to achieve,’” Kane said. “But it’s given me motivation to do more. My numbers are 11km a game, a lot of high‑speed running. Sometimes when I’m watching the games back, I’m more looking forward to watching tackles or one of my defensive actions than watching my goals back. I don’t know if that means I’m getting a little bit bored of my goals or like the tackling part as well but it’s been enjoyable.
“I was interested in how I would feel after winning a trophy. It could have been easy to be a bit more relaxed. I pushed myself the other way, being even better, eating even cleaner, doing more gym.
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“I do eat clean anyway. It’s just whether the cheat meals after games are not so much, or when you’re out with the family not having as much ice cream. Small details, but at the highest level those make a big difference.”
Kane is preparing for England’s friendly against Wales on Thursday and World Cup qualifier against Latvia next Tuesday. The focus has been on Thomas Tuchel leaving Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden out of his squad. Tuchel has said he wanted to reward the players who excelled in training and against Serbia last month.
“There are a lot of players who are different from past tournament squads,” Kane said. “But I think the boss has made it pretty clear that those players, it’s not like they’re out of the squad for sure. A lot of them are maybe just coming back into form. Some of them, Jude especially, he’s not been fit, and just played one or two games. It is a big change, but that’s not my decision. That’s the boss – he will feel the feeling amongst the players.”
Kane urged England to maintain the standards set during the 5-0 win over Serbia. “The energy around the place was in a really good place,” he said. “Probably the best camp since Gareth [Southgate] left I would say was the September camp but now that is the standard.”
England have added Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly to the squad after the Chelsea right-back Reece James withdrew with a minor injury. Declan Rice reported after going off in Arsenal’s game with a back injury.
