Harry Kane said that it “hurt” to watch his England teammates winning titles and going the distance in the Champions League, as he insists the Premier League goalscoring record was never a motivation.
The new Bayern Munich signing said that the fact that it was “the one thing missing” from his career hung over him, and that was ultimately why he left Tottenham Hotspur. Kane said he is enjoying the pressure of having to win every Bundesliga match convincingly, compared to how two Spurs games without winning “wasn’t a disaster”.
“As a competitor, when the boys are playing the Champions League and I am just sitting at home watching it, I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that hurt,” Kane said, as Kyle Walker’s incredible medal record was put to him.
“Of course, I want them to do well - Kyle and all those guys to win when they are in competitions I am not in - but a part of me wants to have those experiences. With the other players in the team having done that, I am not sure jealous is the right word, but it does motivate me to go on and try to push myself towards some of those trophies the guys have got.”
He also stressed the Premier League record never factored into his thinking.
“I think there was a lot of talk about it and the fact I was getting closer to it but I have never been anybody who has chased individual honours ahead of team awards.
“I have said before in interviews, ultimately it comes down to me to see how good I can be and I felt like I had to be playing Champions League football and competing for titles each year. Bayern Munich definitely gives me that.
“The record of course would be amazing and it might be amazing if one day I do end up breaking it. But it is not why I play football and my move shows that.”
Kane has already been struck by how exacting it is at Bayern, something he relishes.
“It’s definitely a different pressure compared to what I felt at Spurs. Of course we wanted to win things at Spurs but if you went a couple of games without winning then it wasn’t a disaster. The feeling at Bayern is that you have to win every game. We won the first two games 4-0 and 3-1 and there was still talk about not being too happy about the way we played. That’s part and parcel of being at one of the biggest clubs in the world. But we’ve had a good start and I’m enjoying feeling those different emotions and that’s part of the reason that I wanted to go. And we start the Champions League campaign when we get back, which they expect to win – or have a good chance of winning. So you’re going into those games with maybe a different feeling to what I’ve had in the past.”
Kane meanwhile said it had been pointed out to him how the 2024 Champions League final is at Wembley, that he could potentially win with his German club, and that the Euro 2024 final is in Berlin that he could win with England.
“Yes! I have been told about the Champions League final in Wembley, for sure. I know the Euros are in Germany next summer so if there’s someone out there writing a movie, I will try and do my best to make it happen! It’s hard. There’s so much time to go I don’t want to think about it too much, but if it did happen it would be incredible.”
