Since moving to Munich two years ago, the Kane family wardrobe has gained a few new items: lederhosen (the leather breeches worn by men in southern Germany) and a collection of dirndls (an outfit comprising a blouse, bodice, skirt and apron that originated in German-speaking areas of the Alps).
“They’re actually really comfortable,” says Kane of the lederhosen he first wore at Oktoberfest, an annual beer festival held in Munich, in 2023 and then when his new team Bayern Munich celebrated winning the 2024-25 Bundesliga in May.
“When I first saw them, I thought it was going to be horrible (to wear), but they’re more comfortable than they look. It’s a big tradition here. I’ve got one that I got through the club, but my wife has got her dirndls — a few different ones now — and is fully going for it.”
The 32-year-old is wearing a more conservative black tracksuit when he meets The Athletic at a football ground belonging to amateur side SV Heimstetten. He’s here as an ambassador for STATSports, which is launching the STATSports Academy, a training tool for youth players who are not part of a professional youth setup.
A few days earlier, Kane scored a hat-trick in Bayern’s 4-1 win aganist Hoffenheim — the ninth three-goal haul of his time in Germany’s top division and his second this season. The Bundesliga champions are unbeaten this season, with crucial contributions from Kane (11 goals and three assists in the league).
For England, Kane scored his 75th and 76th international goals against Latvia on Tuesday as Thomas Tuchel’s side became the first team in Europe to qualify for next summer’s World Cup.
Kane describes leaving Tottenham Hotspur and London — a club and city that had been his home for so long — as “a big step from a professional and personal point of view”, but it’s one he has no regrets over. Speaking on the same day that Spurs head coach Thomas Frank says the England captain would be “more than welcome” back in north London, Kane makes it very clear he is happy in Munich, and that the additions to his wardrobe are there to stay, for now.
On the day we meet, this year’s Oktoberfest has been running for two days, with Kane and his team-mates not due to make their annual visit until the final day. The festival takes him back to his early months in Germany, when every day brought new experiences.
“It’s a big event here, you can feel when it’s on in how busy the city is; so many people, and a lot of beers. I really enjoyed my first experience of it. But I didn’t drink, so maybe I’ll have to go one year when I can and experience it that way.”
Before he arrived in Munich, Kane didn’t know what to expect from living in Germany. “Until you experience something, it’s hard to really judge what it’s actually going to be like.
“I think there’s a perception that German people are maybe a bit grumpy and a bit cold. But they’ve got a great sense of humour and are really down-to-earth people who love hard work and humbleness.”
He did know how big a club Bayern were, though. “Everyone pretty much supports Bayern Munich here,” he says. “Everyone talks about football, loves football. So even when I’m out and about or picking the kids up from school, everyone’s giving compliments when I’m scoring goals. It’s like one big community.”
He laughs while describing his experience at the school gates: “There’s quite a lot of kids there who are excited to see me, as well as my kids. Mine find it quite funny with everyone else asking for pictures. I just try to zone in and get them in and out.”
Kane had spent his entire playing career in England before he swapped Spurs for Bayern in August 2023. It has become increasingly common in recent years for young English players to continue their development abroad, but the path is less established for senior players.
Kane says the move has been overwhelmingly positive: “From a professional point of view, it’s been great to experience and to showcase my talents to more of the world. It’s helped me to become an even better and bigger player. The Premier League is probably the biggest league in the world, so you don’t realise how big the other leagues are and how big their fanbases are. Every stadium we go to is full. The atmospheres are amazing.”
He’s trying to learn the language — “When I’m in the lessons, I’m OK. But when I am out of the lessons and I hear them talk properly and quickly, I’m nowhere near” — but is being humbled by his children, who are in an international school and picking it up quickly. “But I’m trying these things, trying to fit in and understand the different cultures — it’s great from a personal point of view.”
Some things, though, do not change, wherever he is in the world. Spending time with his wife Kate and four children in the local park or on dog walks through the forest remains a priority when he’s not playing or training. His eldest daughter has a passion for horse riding, while his eldest son is already football-obsessed. “He’s just smashing the ball everywhere,” says Kane. “As they get older, they take up more of your time and we don’t get a lot of free time. So I try to spend as much as I can with them.”
His passion for golf is well documented (he plays off a handicap of around three) and it remains a favourite pastime when the children are at school. But while the courses are good in Munich, the winter climate makes playing tricky for half the year. “The snow comes down pretty early,” says Kane. “From October to April, the courses are pretty much shut because the snow takes over. Whereas in England, you can play most of the year.”
Aside from friends and family, Kane says there is not much that he misses from home. If pushed, he’d say the golf courses — “Just the different types and the privacy in some of the clubhouses” — but he gets a round in whenever back in England. He also apologetically says he’s not a big fan of the coffee in Germany: “I do miss a good oat milk flat white.”
The locals are likely to forgive him, given he scored 44 and 41 goals in his first two seasons at Bayern, and he is hitting an average of 1.8 goals per game this season. After the disappointment of a third-place finish in his first season, Kane played an important role in regaining the title (their 12th in 13 seasons) last year — the first major trophy of his career.
“Obviously it was a long time coming,” he says. “There was a lot of hard work from when I started my career to that moment. A lot of ups and downs, a lot of close moments. As the years go on and you get closer, it just made me more motivated to get over the line, to make sure I win the first trophy.
“It was a special feeling. We had a restaurant that we took over and just got drunk and celebrated together. Then lifting the trophy at the Allianz in front of the fans and being on that side of it for once was really special. I had my family there, my kids on the pitch after.
“Those are the moments that make it all worth it. You work so hard throughout the year, you’re away a lot, you’re training a lot. To not have had a celebration like that in the 10 or 12 years I’ve been playing… it was nice to have that feeling.”
A moment like that can transform an athlete. After British tennis player Andy Murray won his first Grand Slam tournament — the U.S. Open in 2012 — it seemed to change his personality, lifting a burden that had weighed him down and spurring him on to more success.
“Winning is almost like a drug,” says Kane. “You want to do it, you want to achieve it. When you achieve something like that, you can maybe think, ‘OK, I’ve done what I wanted to do and relax a little bit’.
“But I’ve gone the other way in terms of: ‘OK, I want to do even more now. I want to experience that with bigger trophies, on bigger occasions. Can I improve and make that happen?’.”
With fewer than 250 days until the 2026 World Cup begins in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the England captain says he’s excited for the tournament.
Kane was part of the Bayern squad that played at the Club World Cup this summer, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain. The competition provided insight for next summer.
“The heat is going to be a big factor,” he says. “I didn’t realise how hot it was going to be, especially with the midday and 3pm kick-offs. There’s a big difference in playing a lot of night games here in Europe. The travel is going to be difficult to handle, too.”
Yet these challenges are all the kinds of things that make a World Cup special, he adds. “Feeling like every game is an away game, getting the English support there. They just have a special feeling about them.
“It’s going to be a massive tournament — because in America, they make everything massive. They’re not going to let this one go by without making it one of the best tournaments in the world. I’m excited for it and I think we have a good chance.”
Before then, Kane wants to deliver more success to a city that has become home — and don those lederhosen at least one more time.