HARRY KANE has been placed under huge pressure to deliver the Champions League for Bayern Munich.
The Germans did not secure a £104million deal for the England captain solely to win the Bundesliga for a 12th successive time.
Harry Kane suffered Champions League disappointment at TottenhamGetty
GettyMany fans will feel that his move to Bayern will be a failure if does not win it with them[/caption]
Yet Kane, who makes his league debut against Werder Bremen on Friday, has been lured to Bavaria to give the club a serious goals boost in their hunt for a seventh Champions League title.
The arrival of Kane here in Bavaria has created a real buzz. Talking to a few locals in Munich, the signing has given them huge satisfaction purely because they have landed the England captain.
The big question is what happens if Kane fails to win the trophy in his four years here. Will he be a success if he merely wins domestic honours?
My answer would be yes. I think it is foolish to judge a player on whether he wins a European trophy which has eluded so many others.
Other exceptional players have failed to win the Champions League including a favourite in these parts, former German and Bayern Munich captain Michael Ballack.
Brazilian striker Ronaldo, Dennis Bergkamp and Gianluigi Buffon also have this title missing from their collections.
So to judge Kane purely on winning the Champions League – although it will happen if Bayern fail to do so – would be unfair. Even though Bayern have topped the Bundesliga for 11 years in a row, picking up a winners’ medal would still be an achievement for Kane.
David Beckham won League titles in four different countries with Manchester United, Real Madrid, PSG and LA Galaxy. No-one remembers the strength of the divisions at the time of his successes.
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Equally, with no other takers this summer, Kane’s other option was to stay one more season at Spurs. And it is fair to assume he was not watching TV on Sunday afternoon wishing he was featuring in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Brentford.
So, regardless, he has made the right decision to leave Spurs.
Equally, it would probably have done Kane a favour had Dortmund won the title on the last day of last season after a 2-2 draw with Mainz seeing them finish second on goal difference.
As a result, there would have been a little more hunger to retain the championship this term.
Bayern’s top scorer last season in the League was former Arsenal man Serge Gnabry and he only managed 14. You would certainly expect Kane to once again break the 30-goal barrier.
After just one week, Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel is certainly impressed.
He said: “Harry is a top professional and his quality is outstanding. He is a fantastic human. He is very open. He’s had an immediate impact in the dressing room with his personality, his approach to football and his love for the game.
“That is the Harry Kane effect. And that is why he raises our chances massively of winning the first game of the Bundesliga season. Obviously we will not win every game just because he is there.
“Even when the Harry Kane effect is there, in full effect, does not mean we will win every game but we will still have his weight behind us and that is why I was fighting for him to come here and from what I have seen, it was worth it.”
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