Rumour Has It: Tottenham's Harry Kane tempted by Bayern Munich approach

By Sports Desk September 14, 2022

Bayern Munich have been left with a hole after Robert Lewandowski's exit for Barcelona.

Sadio Mane moved to Munich from Liverpool in the close season but he is not a like-for-like replacement.

Bayern have started the new Bundesliga campaign in indifferent form, following up three wins with as many draws.

TOP STORY – NEGOTIATIONS UNDERWAY BETWEEN KANE AND BAYERN

Harry Kane is increasingly open to the idea of making the move to join German champions Bayern Munich, claims Sky Sports.

Sky Sports' Florian Plettenberg reports that negotiations have already been held by Bayern and Kane's brother Charlie, who represents him.

Bayern have made the Tottenham striker their number one target and can offer him the likelihood of silverware, in comparison to Spurs.

ROUND-UP

– Fabrizio Romano reports that Lionel Messi will not make a decision on his future until after the World Cup, but Paris Saint-Germain are planning to offer him a new deal, while Barcelona are interested in re-signing him. Messi is contracted until 2023 but there is the option of another year in Paris.

Jude Bellingham's list of suitors is growing with Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool all keen on Borussia Dortmund's English talent according to AS.

– New Chelsea boss Graham Potter has approved the club's pursuit of RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol, with the club to try to sign him again in June 2023 reports Fichajes.

– Germany international forward Max Kruse's contract with Wolfsburg is set to be mutually terminated during the Bundesliga break, claims Sport.

– The Guardian reports that Lens head coach Franck Haise is under consideration for the vacant Brighton and Hove Albion managerial post, along with Bodo/Glimt's Kjetil Knutsen and ex-Shakhtar Donetsk boss Roberto De Zerbi.

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  • Silverware no definition of successful career for Willian Silverware no definition of successful career for Willian

    Willian believes success in football does not necessarily equate to a cabinet full of silverware, highlighting Harry Kane as an example.

    The Fulham attacker was a two-time Premier League winner during his time with Chelsea, and collected medals in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and Europa League.

    In addition, the 34-year-old won the 2019 Copa America with Brazil and was a member of his nation's squad when they came fourth at home in the 2014 World Cup.

    But when asked what defines success in football, he suggested that trophies do not solely define the legacy of a player's career.

    "I think it's a mix of several factors," he told Stats Perform. "It is to win titles, [it] is to be playing at a high level.

    "Sometimes there are players who don't win titles, but play at a high level and are always playing well, always scoring goals. Harry Kane, for example, for me, is a great player

    "[He] is always at a high level at Tottenham, playing very well and scoring goals, but I don't think he has any career titles as a professional. Can you say that he was not successful in football?

    "It depends. It is a mixture of things. It depends a lot on what it means to be successful in football. For me, the most important thing is for the player to be playing well, and the title becomes a consequence of the work."

    Despite his success, Willian acknowledged there are two major honours that have eluded him, at club and international level, but he adds their absence from his collection does not detract from his other successes.

    "One is the Champions League and the other is the World Cup," he noted. "Every player has that dream.

    "Those are the two titles I'd really like to win, but if I don't win them, I'm satisfied with my career and the titles I've already won."

    Willian has spent nine seasons in the Premier League, more than he has in any domestic top-flight competition, and he maintains it remains the strongest he has played in.

    "The Premier League is the best league in the world," he added. "You'll never have an easy match.

    "It might get easier during the game, and you might beat the other team, but you're never going to go into the match thinking it's going to be easy, thinking you're going to win 4-0.

    "It is a very difficult league. The last one can take points from the first one, and it is very competitive and that is why it becomes the best in the world."

  • Enough support for Premier League managers' mental health, says LMA chief Bevan Enough support for Premier League managers' mental health, says LMA chief Bevan

    League Managers Association (LMA) chief executive Richard Bevan feels enough support is given to Premier League managers in regards to their mental health.

    Prior to his sacking at Chelsea, Graham Potter revealed his mental health and family life had suffered as a result of the pressures of Premier League management.

    West Ham's David Moyes also discussed the impact of being an under-fire Premier League boss, citing the harmful effects media scrutiny can have.

    But Bevan, who has been in his role since 2008, believes the LMA is doing its bit to help top-flight managers cope with the strain.

    "I think since COVID, the world of sport, not just football, has put health and wellbeing at the forefront of all decisions," Bevan said when speaking to Stats Perform at the Football Business Awards.

    "Certainly, in the LMA, we have two in-house psychiatrists and two in-house psychologists. 

    "It's not just about the managers and coaches, it's looking after the people that work in that environment. We are very, very active in making sure that communication and the services that we offer are utilised as much by the families as well as by the coaches and the managers. 

    "So it's really important to be as well as physically fit, emotionally fit, and mentally fit, in order to do the jobs, whether you're a coach or working in any environment today."

    There has been a record number of managerial dismissals in the Premier League this season.

    One of those, Patrick Vieira's sacking by Crystal Palace in March, left the Premier League without a black manager.

    Bevan explained the LMA is encouraging clubs to diversify their coaching staff.

    He said: "From our perspective, it's making sure that we have a very vibrant pipeline of coaches coming through.

    "We're pushing the stakeholders to have a far greater number of coaches from diverse backgrounds that have, for example, the [UEFA] Pro Licence, so that pipeline which the employers are looking at can make a difference over the next five years."

    As of the final day of the 2022-23 season, 10 Premier League bosses are from overseas, while the competition has been won by a foreign manager in each of the last 10 seasons.

    Bevan lauded the impact managers from other countries had brought to the English game, adding: "They all bring excellence.

    "I think we're very lucky that the Premier League and, indeed, all of our leagues are immensely popular around the world, and they attract overseas owners, overseas coaches, and overseas players, so ensuring that the very best in their profession I work in our leagues is really special.

    "We're really grateful that we have a really diverse mix of managers and coaches."

  • Tuchel replicates Beckenbauer feat and Coman maintains title run: The Opta facts behind Bayern's Bundesliga triumph Tuchel replicates Beckenbauer feat and Coman maintains title run: The Opta facts behind Bayern's Bundesliga triumph

    In 2000, it was Bayer Leverkusen who suffered final-day heartbreak as Bayern Munich overhauled them to clinch one of their most dramatic Bundesliga title triumphs.

    This time around, it was Borussia Dortmund's turn to lament the most galling of near misses, while their rivals lifted the Meisterschale following Jamal Musiala's late winner at Koln.

    The most topsy-turvy title race in Europe's top-five leagues this campaign, therefore, ended in familiar fashion, with Bayern maintaining their stranglehold on the German crown.

    After Bayern overcame a stern Dortmund challenge to win their 11th consecutive Bundesliga title, Stats Perform looks at the best facts and figures to emerge from their triumphant campaign.

    The headline stats

    There has never been much doubt regarding Bayern's status as the dominant force in Germany. Their latest title win represents their 33rd overall, and their 32nd since the Bundesliga was founded in 1963. Combined, all other clubs in Bundesliga history have 28.

    Meanwhile, Bayern's current streak of 11 consecutive domestic titles is the longest such run in the history of Europe's top five leagues.

    However, as the decision to dispense with Julian Nagelsmann's services and bring in Thomas Tuchel in March would suggest, this has not been a vintage campaign for Bayern.

    Having edged out Dortmund on goal difference after both teams finished with 71 points, Bayern's class of 2022-23 collected the fewest points of any Bundesliga-winning team since 2009-10, when Die Roten were crowned champions with 70.

    Bayern's tally of 21 victories this term was actually bettered by Dortmund (22), who became just the second team in the three-points-for-a-win era to boast the most wins in a Bundesliga season and not win the title (after Leverkusen in 1996-97).

    Tuchel takes the prize

    While Tuchel's Bayern did not get close to the incredible point tallies recorded under Jupp Heynckes, Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti, the new boss did enough, rallying his team to collect 12 from their final five matches and pip his former employers at the last.

    Tuchel became only the second coach to take over a Bundesliga club during the second half of a season and lead them to the title, after the legendary Franz Beckenbauer did so with Bayern in 1993-94.

    While Beckenbauer took the reins from matchday 21 of that campaign, Tuchel did so from matchday 26 this term, making it the latest managerial change from a Bundesliga-winning team.

    Muller extends his record, Musiala the main man

    Bayern's last-gasp triumph also ensured several key players kept up their own incredible records of domestic success.

    While attacking stalwart Thomas Muller won a record-extending 12th German title, Kingsley Coman – who opened the scoring in Bayern's final-day win at Koln – preserved his record of finishing every season of his professional career as a domestic champion.

    Having won Ligue 1 twice with Paris Saint-Germain and Serie A as a Juventus player in 2014-15, Coman has now lifted the Meisterschale eight times during his spell in Bavaria.

    Those records, however, owe everything to Musiala's intervention against Koln, with the 20-year-old stepping off the bench to fire into the bottom-right corner as stoppage time loomed.

    That strike was his 12th of the Bundesliga campaign, one more than he had managed in 57 combined appearances in the competition before this season.

    It was a fitting way for Musiala to cap a season in which only Eintracht Frankfurt's Randal Kolo Muani (26) bettered his tally of 22 Bundesliga goal contributions.

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