The 30-year-old has been mocked over the fact that the team he left is now top of the Premier League – but he made the correct call
The online trolling of Harry Kane began as soon as the full-time whistle blew in Bayern Munich's shock DFB-Pokal second-round loss to third-tier Saarbrucken. Having already suffered defeat in the the DFL-Supercup in his very first outing for the Bavarians back in August, this latest blow in his bid to lift a team trophy for the first time in a 14-year professional career was viewed as further evidence of Kane being cursed; destined to retire without any major honours to his name.
What the keyboard warriors found particularly amusing was the fact that Kane had quit Tottenham during the summer in a desperate pursuit of silverware – and yet the north Londoners now sit proudly on top of the Premier League. And there would certainly be a cruel irony in Spurs winning the title for the first time since 1961 the season after the loss of their all-time leading scorer.
So, has Kane made a monumental error? Has he left Tottenham at precisely the wrong time? And for the wrong club?
Getty Images'I don't agree with his move'
Michael Owen certainly thinks Kane has jumped ship too soon. The Ballon d'Or winner believes the all-round attacker should have seen out the final year of his Spurs contract before joining Barcelona, Real Madrid or whomever he wanted on a free transfer next summer.
"I don't agree with his move from Spurs to Bayern," Owen told . "If he was so desperate to leave and to win trophies, then he could easily have stayed for another season and then had the world in his hands by going on a Bosman transfer.
"That way, if Spurs miraculously started playing well and looking like title challengers, he could have always [extended his contract], but, regardless, he would have had his destiny in his hands and gone to any club he wanted, all while he was getting closer to that Premier League goalscoring record and creating the perfect legacy with the club he's been at all his life.
"Bayern are undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in the world but for me to win a trophy, I don't think there's anything really special about going and guaranteeing yourself a Bundesliga trophy. Bayern will win the league with or without Kane, so I don't think that was particularly a reason to leave."
AdvertisementGetty'I was crying my eyes out'
Owen's perspective should obviously be respected, given he knows a thing or two about leaving a boyhood club for one of Europe's elite. He was painfully torn over swapping Liverpool for Real Madrid in the summer of 2004.
"I didn't sleep for a week beforehand," he previously told GOAL. "And even on the drive to the airport, I was crying my eyes out, I don't mind telling you."
But Owen's view of the Kane transfer is understandably coloured by the negative outcome of his Madrid move. He scored goals in La Liga – 13, to be precise – but he realised long before the end of his one and only season in Spain that he was never going to be a first-choice during the dying embers of Florentino Perez's ultimately disappointing Galactico era. So, keen to avoid jeopardising his place in England's starting line-up ahead of the 2006 World Cup, Owen pushed for a return to the Premier League.
His goal was to rejoin Liverpool, who had just won the Champions League without him, much to the delight of some bitter Reds supporters who were still furious with the forward for leaving. But he instead ended up at Newcastle, and then Manchester United, as the second half of a once-glittering career was derailed by one incessant injury issues.
Getty ImagesKane gamble 'will pay off'
However, as Owen said himself to GOAL, "You never can plan your career perfectly. You think you're going to be a Liverpool player for life but then you think, 'Oh my God, it's Real Madrid, I'll regret this forever if I say no.'
"So, while I didn't get the chance to spend the rest of my career at Liverpool, I had an incredible experience in Madrid."
It's slightly curious, then, that Owen has come out so vehemently against Kane's Bayern switch, given his compatriot is demonstrating the same level of ambition. Furthermore, all of the early signs are that it is a transfer that will work out far better than Owen's short spell at the Santiago Bernabeu.
For starters, Kane represented a hugely significant signing for Bayern. He wasn't merely an expendable element of a vanity project. He was their top transfer target, the belated Robert Lewandowski replacement, the complete No.9 they needed to sign at all costs to turn Thomas Tuchel's team into legitimate Champions League challengers.
And that's precisely why a club renowned for its relatively prudent approach to the transfer market committed to a nine-figure fee (including bonuses) for a 30-year-old with less than 12 months left on his contract. Bayern, as Lothar Matthaus pointed out, had probably slightly overpaid in the circumstances but he, like the club, presumed that the gamble "will pay off".
Getty'You notice his aura immediately'
Kane is certainly proving value for money so far, with 12 goals in his first nine Bundesliga outings, including two hat-tricks – and a strike from the halfway line that even David Beckham felt compelled to comment upon.
Kane's also netted in two of his three Champions League appearances, though, with his crucial strike in last month's win at Galatasaray prompting Tuchel to come up with a rather novel and amusing way to hail his striker's ludicrously composed finishing.
"Harry has beer calm," the former Chelsea boss told . "If you have scored 4,800 goals in your career, then you just have less [of a] pulse! He has a very natural self-confidence and knows that he doesn't need many chances."
Indeed, Leon Goretzka says that Kane is a humble, "wonderful guy", the England captain has an "aura" about him that inspires confidence in everyone around him. "You notice it immediately in the dressing room," the midfielder said. "He helps us so much. He's a leader."
Leroy Sane is clearly loving linking up with Kane, with the former Manchester City winger enjoying the best season of his Bayern career to date, while the promising young striker Mathys Tel is already benefiting enormously from learning from one of the best finishers of the modern era.
"He's a role model for me," the teenager recently told the Bundesliga's official website. "It's important to have people to learn from technically and in terms of finishing, and, often I don't even have to ask him. He just comes over to me and tells me: 'Mathys, you can do that, or that'.
"He pays close attention to the little details and he's looking to help me in any way he can. He's supporting me a great deal."
Interestingly, when asked what he admired most about Kane, Tel responded, "His mentality. He is very strong mentally. He's very calm."