Bayern Munich have detailed the only way that Tottenham Hotspur can re-sign Harry Kane in 2026, following Thomas Frank’s insistence that the club would welcome him back, while TEAMtalk have reasoned why that could be a bad decision.
The reigning Bundesliga champions signed Kane from Spurs for an initial €100million (£86.4m) two years ago, and his current contract still runs through until 2027.
However, Bild reported on Monday that Kane has a €65m (£56.7m) release clause in his deal which can be activated next summer – although the England skipper would need to announce his intention to leave before the end of the January transfer window to set the wheels in motion.
Tottenham also have a buy-back option on the 32-year-old, who will have actually turned 33 by the time the 2026/27 campaign gets underway. And it appears that Frank is willing to bring the club’s all-time record goalscorer back to north London.
“He is an unbelievable player who did fantastic for Spurs and is doing fantastic for Bayern. Top player. I think there’s a lot of Tottenham fans, including myself, who would like to see Kane back,” Frank said prior to Spurs’ Carabao Cup win over Doncaster.
“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, won the championship and he’s doing fantastic now.”
When asked about Frank’s comments on Kane and a potential return to Spurs, Bayern head coach, Vincent Kompany, said on Thursday: “He’s in an excellent phase and the last thing I want to do is to open the door to a different discussion.
“The only thing I always see with Harry is that he wants to win titles and he can do that at Bayern. That’s the only focus.”
Meanwhile, Bayern’s board member for sport, Max Eberl, said that the decision over Kane’s future will be purely left up to the player himself.
“I think that at his age he is still making huge progress as a personality on the pitch.” Eberl said.
“At Tottenham, of course, we all knew him from scoring goals but I think the way he’s playing football in this team right now, not just scoring goals, but as a player, as a leader on the pitch and sacrificing himself for the team shows what I’ve been saying.
“He wants to win titles, that’s what hunger is. He can do that with us, we what to do that with him.
“He’s old enough to make his own decisions, whether he has a clause or not. If he says, ‘I want to make a decision’, as he showed at Tottenham, then he will make that decision.
“But of course, our wish is to have a very, very successful season with him and in the future.”
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Why Tottenham should NOT pull Harry Kane return trigger
TEAMtalk’s transfer insider Dean Jones has revealed to us that Kane is open to the idea of a return to the club where he made his name, especially with Alan Shearer’s Premier League goalscoring record in his sights.
However, there are counter-arguments to bringing back a club legend, one of which was his burning desire to walk away in the first place.
Kane was pushing for a move to Manchester City back in 2021, but he eventually got his exit two years later when he headed to Germany in the hunt for silverware.
While his service to Tottenham cannot be questioned, along with his 280 goals, there is an element of ‘never go back’ that has to be factored in. There was certainly an element of that when Gareth Bale re-joined on loan for the 2020/21 season.
The Welshman did score 16 goals and provide three assists in 34 games, but he was a completely different player to the one who left.
There’s no arguing that Kane still knows his way to goal, 16 strikes in just 12 games this season is testament to that, but he will be another year older if he does pull on the famous white jersey again in August 2026.
In some ways, Frank’s comments were to appease fans, after all he was never going to say ‘no thanks, we are happy with what we’ve got’. That may be his thinking behind closed doors though and, to be Frank (apologies), it should be.
At 33 years of age, there is no way that Kane is closing down central defenders in Frank’s high press. It’s a very important part of the Tottenham manager’s make-up, as he looks to create pressure in the final third and make chances from opposition mistakes.
Frank also likes his No.9 to run in behind when mixing up short and long-ball play, something that was never really a Kane strength even in his younger days.
But, more importantly, spending nearly £60m on a player well into his 30s does not make an awful lot of sense for the club’s plan going forward.
They are building a young, energetic squad to play in their new manager’s mould – and £60m would be better spent on a striker who could be around for five or six years, rather than a couple, as Kane gets that goals record and then probably heads to America for a swansong.
In short, Kane is the past and Tottenham have to now be looking to the future.