Harry Kane could make Premier League return as new Bayern Munich exit theory emerges

Bayern Munich are already planning for life after Harry Kane, with it reportedly an open secret that he will not end his career in Germany.

Kane joined Bayern in the summer of 2023 from Tottenham for a fee of £86.4million and has been in prolific form. The England captain has scored 91 goals in 100 games for the German giants and has helped the club win the Bundesliga and the German Super Cup.

He is very happy in Bavaria, but is now 32 years old and has less than two years remaining on his current contract. There are no plans in the works for an extension beyond the expiry date of June 2027 and Bayern were active in pursuing strikers in the summer window.

After chasing Nick Woltemade and Christopher Nkunku, they ended up landing Nicolas Jackson on a season-long loan deal from Chelsea, with the option to make it permanent next summer. Jackson will become a Bayern player for £56.2m if he starts 40 games this season – and he could be auditioning to succeed Kane, according to German football expert Raphael Honigstein.

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“It's no big secret that people in Germany don't expect Harry Kane to see out his career at Bayern,” he said on talkSPORT. “I think Bayern are braced for the possibility that he will leave slightly earlier than his contract, which runs until 2027.

“One way or the other, he and the club need to take a view on this fairly soon. They were pushing for somebody who can both be a backup and an understudy for Kane. They looked at [Benjamin] Sesko. They looked at [Nick] Woltemade - they ended up with Jackson, with an obligation to buy.

“This suggests Bayern are aware of the possibility that Kane might go in a year or two. But at the same time, he's so good that anyone who comes in has to play around him.

“There is absolutely no chance that Jackson will displace Kane. He will have to play alongside him, ahead of him or give Kane a rest in a game or two. But he is very much there to be his eventual successor, but we are still quite far off that.”

Kane spent his entire career with Tottenham before leaving for Bayern and sits second on the list of the Premier League's all-time record goalscorers. His tally of 213 goals is only eclipsed by Alan Shearer's 260 and it has frequently been suggested that Kane may want to return to England to clinch the record.

Bayern generally only play with one centre-forward, with Vincent Kompany favouring a 4-2-3-1 formation. That means Jackson will likely start his Bayern career on the substitutes’ bench after the international break – and the club’s honorary president honorary president Uli Hoeneß has thrown doubt over his long-term future at the club.

Asked on Sport1 if a permanent deal could be waiting for Jackson, Hoeneß replied: “That only happens if he plays 40 games from the start. He never does that!”

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