The morning after the night before, Harry Kane met the German media.
Bayern Munich ordinarily hold their press conferences at Sabener Strasse, but interest in Kane’s transfer meant a switch of venue, to the Allianz Arena and its gleaming auditorium.
Watched by his brother Charlie and his parents, Pat and Kim, Kane eased into life as the most expensive player in the history of both his new club and German football. The last few days have been a blur.
“A lot has been going on,” he said. “A lot of new faces and new surroundings.”
Thomas Muller has already offered him a round of golf and, despite the disappointing end to his first day, with the 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup, Kane, his wife Kate, and their young children have been made to feel very welcome.
“The reception me and my family have got since getting here, and at the game last night, has been magical,” he said.
Support has come from elsewhere, too. England head coach Gareth Southgate sent a congratulatory text over the weekend and the two plan to talk at length next week, once the dust has settled from one of the most protracted transfer sagas of the summer.
It has been a “rollercoaster”, Kane conceded, and the last 48 hours of the deal had their “ups and downs”. Kane is happy to be in Germany and Munich, though, and sees this as the next step in a career that has always been characterised by evolution and self-improvement.
“I’ve always said that I want to keep improving and pushing myself to my limits. Ultimately. I wanted to be playing at the highest levels, in the Champions League, and fighting for titles,” he said.
He also didn’t entirely close the door on a Premier League return in future or his long pursuit of Alan Shearer’s goalscoring record. This was a professional, career-based decision, he said, but he “had plenty of football left in (him)”.
Kane fielded questions in German and English, using an earpiece translator to respond. He’s learning German, taking two lessons a week, and despite the oddity of the occasion and the duelling interests of the international press, he answered in good humour, albeit with a straight bat. Given his profile, it has been easy to forget that this was the first transfer of Kane’s career and now, in its aftermath, some of the stress seems to be melting away. Kane is a footballer, not a celebrity; it shows and there’s palpable relief in the way he talks of this melodrama’s end.
He’s yet to venture into Munich, so the city’s coffee shops and restaurants will have to wait until next week, but now begins the process of assimilation. The language, the schools, the plans for family; there’s a lot to do, he admits. But he seems to be relishing it. His wife and children were at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, so were his parents and his in-laws, and – whatever the fallout from the transfer and despite that initial disappointment in the Super Cup – his move appears to be off to a good start.
The Tottenham farewells are still not quite over. Kane’s departure was so hasty that he did not have time to say goodbye to his team-mates. Instead, he left a message in the squad’s group chat, but plans to return to London in the next few weeks to see members of staff at the club where he spent 19 years.
That is in the future, though. In the present, these are the first steps not just into a new part of his career, but also into a new life. And they’ve been steady.
(Photo: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
