Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany could not get his head around the idea that Harry Kane would struggle at this World Cup.
‘Do I have to accept that he has tailed off in seasons before? It is not how I have seen it,’ he said to me last month. His slapdown, after our question raised concern of Tournament Kane being a diminished version, was not done there.
‘Let’s not put it as a statement that he looks tired and this is what happens every year, it is not true. I’ve seen his impact. He is where he needs to be at this moment in time.’
On Wednesday in Dallas, when England begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia, we will learn whether Kompany was right to serve a rebuttal every bit as emphatic as the finishing of Kane during that morning’s training session at Bayern HQ. Even among elite team-mates, there is a different sound when he hits the ball, like a golfer flushing an iron shot. It is, invariably, followed by the ripple of net.
‘He has the eye cool,’ said one Munich taxi driver, with a turn of phrase too good to leave in the back of a cab.
This is all well and good – the worry for England is that Kane, in the steam room of North America, plays like the leaden-legged shadow of two years ago at the European Championship, when his body looked half a second behind his brain.
Even among elite team-mates, there is a different sound when Harry Kane hits the ball. It is, invariably, followed by the ripple of net. ‘He has the eye cool,’ said one Munich taxi driver
But at his last tournament for England, Euro 2024, Kane looked heavy-legged and tired
A harsh recollection? In the final against Spain in Berlin, with England trailing 1-0 and toiling approaching the hour, Jude Bellingham and others looked towards the bench in search of change. It was Kane who Gareth Southgate sacrificed minutes later.
Yes, there were three goals during the tournament and a penalty cannily won in the semi-final, but when Kane was hooked in the final, there was no media inquest, no fan outrage nor outcry from former players. It was the right call, as remarkable as that sounds two years later on the back of a 61-goal season. Those Euros were, he later admitted, ‘mentally and physically’ challenging. There was also a slight back injury.
That is why we are right to ask the question of those in Germany as to the condition of England’s captain. His back certainly needs to hold out this time, given he carries upon it the weight of the country’s hopes.
‘I never thought I would say this, but Kane is getting better each season, and this latest was by far his best,’ says journalist Patrick Strasser, who covers Bayern and is here in the United States to report on the German national team.
Strasser and colleague Christian Falk, head of football at leading German tabloid Bild, both point to Kane’s last match in Germany as reason for English reassurance. Bayern beat Stuttgart 3-0 in the DFB-Pokal final and Kane scored a hat-trick.
‘He said that game was one of the best performances in his career, and there is a lot of competition for that!’ says Falk. ‘Then, before he left, he said to us: “This is the title for Bayern, guys, but I’m sorry, the next title won’t be for Germany!”.
‘The good news for England is bad news for us – trust me, he is in top shape. This will be the best Harry Kane you have ever had in a tournament. He said to us that he is wishing for a final against Germany. But yeah, we don’t have him, you do!’
Strasser says: ‘This was his sixth cup final and the first one he has won. It was the last time I saw him. He was so happy after that game. You will get the best Harry Kane you can imagine.’
Bayern Munich insiders and reporters insist that the England captain is in finer form than ever, having scored 61 goals in 51 games for the German champions this season
Kane’s last match in Germany is reason for English reassurance. Bayern beat Stuttgart 3-0 in the DFB-Pokal final and Kane scored a hat-trick
‘Not winning anything in his first season at Bayern actually helped him,’ says a source. ‘Harry has always been a winner, but you can see something different in his eyes now’
One of the reasons for that is the work of Dr Alejandro Elorriaga. The Spaniard is a sports scientist who Kane employs at his own cost.
‘He’s a genius,’ says one source familiar with his work with Kane. ‘He’ll find a nerve in your arm connected to your ankle!’
Elorriaga’s sorcery combined with a winter break and a Bundesliga of just 18 teams – meaning four fewer league fixtures and the majority way below the standard of the Premier League – are all factors in the renewed vigour of a Kane who, at 32, wants to play for another seven years at least, say those who know him best. He has one year to run on his Bayern contract but they, it is said, will do everything to extend that stay by a minimum of two seasons.
Falk sees no reason why Kane would want to leave, especially if the Bundesliga helps to prolong his international career. The striker is said to have no real desire to return and break Alan Shearer’s 260-goal Premier League record, either, of which he is 47 shy.
‘Everyone knows that players from the Premier League are tired at the end of the season,’ says Falk. ‘But Harry, well, he plays in Germany now! He told me how much he enjoyed his winter break with his family, and how good he feels now because of it.
‘He also had a few breaks in the second half of the season because Kompany wanted to have him fresh for the Champions League final. In the end, they did not make it, but that is good for England!’
The German Cup was Kane’s third trophy with Bayern, on the back of two Bundesliga titles. His first season finished without any silverware, prompting ridicule from afar.
‘Not winning anything in that first season actually helped him,’ says a source. ‘It was like Pep (Guardiola) at Man City in his first season. It motivates you. Harry has always been a winner, but you can see something different in his eyes now.’
He has one year to run on his Bayern contract but they, it is said, will do everything to extend that stay by a minimum of two seasons
‘He is free of the tribalism of the Premier League. His mind is clear. His body is better than ever. There is nothing to worry about’
| 1. Gary Lineker | 10 (6 in 1986, 4 in 1990) |
| 2. HARRY KANE | 8 (6 in 2018, 2 in 2022) |
| 3. Geoff Hurst | 5 (4 in 1966, 1 in 1970) |
| 4. Bobby Charlton | 4 (1 in 1962, 3 in 1966) |
| = Michael Owen | 4 (2 in 1998, 2 in 2002) |
| 6. Nat Lofthouse | 3 (1954) |
| = Roger Hunt | 3 (1966) |
| = David Platt | 3 (1990) |
| = David Beckham | 3 (1 each in 1998, 2002, 2006) |
| = Steven Gerrard | 3 (2 in 2006, 1 in 2010) |
| = Marcus Rashford | 3 (2022) |
| = Bukayo Saka | 3 (2022) |
Kane himself said this week: ‘The perception around me has probably changed in the last few years. The fact that I have won these trophies means I’m seen a bit differently from the outside, and maybe even team-mates.’
In Bayern’s club shop, Kane’s name and number dominate. But away from football, say the locals in Munich, there is not the intrusion of England. He lives with his wife and four children in a £30million hilltop mansion in the ‘Beverly Hills of Bavaria’.
He receives a free delivery of schnitzels almost every morning, after the owner of a nearby restaurant promised to do so every time he scores a goal. ‘Here comes schnitzel guy,’ remark security staff, who allow him to proceed given Kane and his family have embraced the gesture.
‘He is free of the tribalism of the Premier League,’ says another source. ‘His mind is clear. His body is better than ever. There is nothing to worry about.’
But worry we do – because if those in Munich are right, England have a chance. If they are wrong, we have a problem.
