There’s been a ton of speculation and background murmuring about Harry Kane over the past few weeks. Starting with reports from Germany that Kane would welcome a return to the Premier League and English football after a couple of (mostly) successful, title-winning seasons at Bayern Munich, speculation has expanded outward to encompass hushed-tone conjecture about Kane returning to Tottenham Hotspur so he can make a run at Alan Shearer’s Premier League goal-scoring record before he eventually hangs up his boots.
Let’s be honest for a second here — there really isn’t much evidence beyond rank speculation that a) Kane wants to leave Bayern for a Premier League return, or b) if he did he’d want to come back to Tottenham, a club he left in somewhat acrimonious circumstances in 2023. BILD has previously reported that a clause exists in Kane’s Bayern contract which states Spurs have the right of first refusal to purchase him this summer and could do so for as low as £54m, which is less than what they spent on Mohammed Kudus.
Even if you accept both of those premises there are real and concrete barriers to Kane coming back to Spurs, not least of which is his current salary of £400k/wk., a figure that blows a hole in Spurs’ wage structure large enough to drive a Panzer tank through. There’s also the small issue of Kane being 33 years old by the time he would make a hypothetical return — certain players are timeless scorers (o hai Messi), but the Premier League is a tough, physical league and there’s no guarantee that Harry Kane would be as impactful a player for Tottenham or any club in 2026 as he was in 2022.
But who cares about any of that, right? Let’s ask Thomas Frank. In comments embargoed until yesterday, Frank gave the headline-ready soundbite that, of course, Harry Kane would be welcome to come back to Tottenham Hotspur. But he sure didn’t seem to think that’s a very likely outcome.
”I think there’s a lot of Tottenham fans including myself who would like to see Kane back. He’s a top player. Personally, I don’t think he will do it right now, if I’m honest, he’ll probably stay in Bayern and continue performing well.
”He was top scorer last year and won the championship, he’s doing fantastic now. I don’t know what he’s thinking. Myself, I’m a traveler, I like to travel, I like to explore things as well. He’s been here for many years so why not enjoy the time at Bayern a little bit more.
“But he’s welcome. If he wants to join us, he’s more than welcome.”
Frank is a conciliatory guy who knows how to talk to the media, and this is probably the best possible way he could’ve said “lol yeah this isn’t gonna happen”. Would Thomas Frank like to have Harry Kane a part of his team? Duh, of course. He’s one of the best forwards in world football, never mind where the Ballon d’Or ranked him this year (13th). I’d say most Tottenham fans, if they were ever angry with him to begin with, have either forgiven him or at least let bygones be like spilled milk under the bridge, or whatever.
Maybe Kane does come back next season. Maybe it’ll all be fine, he’ll slot in immediately into Frank’s system next year, and he goes on to break Shearer’s record and earn himself a statue outside of White Hart Lane. Or maybe he doesn’t — maybe he signs with a club like Barcelona which has frequently served as a haven for aging superstars, or even (gaaah) Manchester United, Chelsea, or Liverpool. It’s too soon to say, and anything we read about it now is going to be rank speculation. Interesting speculation, sure — but ultimately it’ll come down, as it always has, to what Harry Kane wants to do. Nothing else really matters until we know what Harry wants and it feels like we’re a ways off from knowing that.