Gareth Southgate breaks silence on Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich transfer speculation and says: I don’t see a downside
GARETH SOUTHGATE insisted that he sees no “downside” to the intense speculation linking Harry Kane with a move to Bayern Munich.
The soon-to-be 30-year-old has entered the final year of his deal with Tottenham.
The striker overtook Wayne Rooney to become the second-highest Premier League goalscorer last season and also became the club’s all-time top marksman.
But it was another year of disappointment for him despite those personal accolades as his wait to win a trophy as a senior pro went on.
Spurs are currently refusing to sell him for less than £100million and still hope to tie him down to a new agreement that would increase his £300,000-per-week wages.
But we previously reported that Kane won’t accept any new contract offers from Tottenham and is instead keen on moving to Bayern Munich.
His wife Katie was also reportedly in Munich looking for a house last month as the move edges closer.
Bayern two bids turned down for Kane and now they are prepared to improve on their
£81.7million bid for the Tottenham star.
However, while those negotiations continue, he is currently preparing for the upcoming friendlies against Shakhtar Donetsk and Barcelona before next week’s opening Premier League clash at Brentford.
Now his England boss Southgate has been asked about whether he feels all of the speculation will have had any impact on his captain.
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But the Three Lions chief is adamant he has no worries whatsoever.
Southgate said: “It doesn’t concern me because wherever he is he is an outstanding player and he will have a good season and score a load of goals. It is more of a dilemma for the player and club.
“What do they do financially? He’s at a certain point in his contract where can you afford not to take the money or afford to lose the player? That is the difficult thing for the people running the club.”
Fellow England ace Jude Bellingham has already completed his mega move from Borussia Dortmund in Germany to Spanish giants Real Madrid, and Southgate is a big admirer of his players heading abroad.
He added: “You want the best players playing in the league if you can if you’re a fan of the Premier League. We’re not short of outstanding players and for me English players playing abroad is a good experience for them.
“What Jude is going to experience, the pressure of playing for Real Madrid where you have to win every week. Playing and training with outstanding players every day, having to mature living abroad as he did at Dortmund, I don’t see a downside in that. We’ve got a few more going abroad now and I think that is good for their individual development and careers.
“England is a consequence of what they do for their clubs in the end. It is not for me to dictate where they go or play, we’ll assess where they are.
“We’ve never ruled anyone out because of the league they play in, we rule them out on a comparison with the other players in their positions.”
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