Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich is “imminent” after the clubs agreed a fee that could rise to £120million.
Bayern have tracked the England captain all summer and a number of bids were turned down, but a breakthrough was reached on Wednesday night.
It left the ball in Kane’s court and he decided on Thursday to leave his boyhood club and join the Bundesliga champions, who will pay an initial £100m for the forward with add-ons able to potentially take the transfer up to an overall fee of £120m, the PA news agency understands.
Reports on Friday morning initially suggested Spurs had refused to give Kane permission to travel to Germany, but they were squashed by Tottenham and he is set to fly out on Friday afternoon and will complete a medical once he lands in Munich.
Postecoglou, speaking ahead of Sunday’s trip to Brentford, confirmed: “Fair to say I don’t have a blow by blow account but my understanding is it has progressed to the point where it looks like it will happen.
“From that perspective, at least it gives us some clarity and we move forward without Harry.
“From my perspective it is just about understanding where we are at and the information I have at the moment is the deal is imminent but like with all these things, you leave yourself some leeway.
“But moving forward and training today preparing for Brentford, we are doing it without Harry.
“It is best Harry speaks for himself in terms of the decision but no doubt he is one of the greats of this football club and that never changes.
“I am only new in the building but fairly evident Harry Kane will always be one of the greats for this football club.”
Kane is unlikely to be signed in time to feature in Bayern’s DFL-Super Cup match with RB Leipzig on Saturday night.
However, with the clash taking place at Bayern’s Allianz Arena home, England captain Kane could well be unveiled to supporters before kick-off.
This is not the first summer where Kane’s future has dominated headlines after Manchester City had a failed pursuit in 2021.
Kane sat out the first match of that season – coincidentally against City – but Pep Guardiola’s side never got close to agreeing a fee with Tottenham for the forward.
With Kane into the last 12 months of his contract at Spurs this summer, speculation over his future this time always felt more significant.
Bayern saw bids reportedly turned down in June and July but made their intentions clear, with club officials in honorary president Uli Hoeness and president Herbert Hainer speaking openly in the media about Kane’s desire to join the Bundesliga champions.
A third bid was submitted last Friday and a new twist occurred when Spurs spent all weekend deliberating before chairman Daniel Levy rejected the offer on Monday.
With noises coming out that Kane, who scored four goals in a friendly win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Sunday, had enjoyed working with new Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, confidence started to grow that he could spend the season with his boyhood team.
Bayern’s latest bid proved enough for an agreement to be reached and, after Kane took his time to weigh up the decision, he decided it was right to end his 19-year stay at Spurs.
It means Kane’s pursuit of Alan Shearer’s Premier League goal-scoring record will go on pause, with the Tottenham forward still 47 goals off equalling Shearer’s tally of 260.
He will leave N17 as the club’s leading marksman after he surpassed Jimmy Greaves’ 266-goal record in February with the winner against Manchester City.
Kane will also get the chance to fulfil his career-long ambition of winning trophies at Bayern, while remaining in the Champions League after spending only one of the last three campaigns in Europe’s elite competition.
Back at Spurs, Postecoglou, who only took over in June, will be tasked with filling a huge void.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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