Harry Kane should jump at the chance to join Bayern Munich. You don’t have to be a nuclear scientist to see where Tottenham are now and to realize that nothing will change for him in the next five years.
Nor do I believe it is a priority to stay with Spurs to break the goalscoring record in the Premier League. Should he just stay and end his career without a trophy, is that what people really think?
At Bayern he will win trophies, possibly even the Champions League – that will not happen at Spurs. Yes, he could retire after breaking Alan Shearer’s record, but there would be nothing but silverware.
I think it’s a brilliant move for both him and Bayern. He will join a European giant, known in their own country as ‘FC Hollywood’, and they will have a top scorer who will be determined to prove he made the right decision. I think he will score more goals for them.
But football aside, it will be the most incredible education for him, his wife and young children. Bavaria is one of the most beautiful parts of Germany and Munich is a great city. He will have a great lifestyle and will come back a better, more well-rounded human being. He will have a completely different head on his shoulders, like I did when I came back from Italy. You embrace their culture and see how different people live. For me it’s win-win all around, for him and his family.
England striker Harry Kane will have a chance to win trophies at Bayern Munch
The six-time European champion is known domestically as ‘Hollywood FC’
Graeme Souness believes that the time in Germany will give Kane a completely different head on his shoulders
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I say all this because Bayern had shown interest in me when I was at Liverpool. I was injured in our replay of the League Cup Final against West Ham at Villa Park in 1981. I was in a company box behind glass watching the game and there was also Uli Hoeness, the Bayern general manager. He asked me if I would be interested in going to Bayern one day. I thanked him but explained that I didn’t want to leave Liverpool for anyone. For a Latin American player, Barcelona or Real Madrid might have been the biggest draw, but for a Northern European, Liverpool was the No. 1.
At another time, maybe a few years later, I would have been very interested. In 1984 I joined Sampdoria in Italy, where there were all the best players in the world. So I know what a positive impact moving abroad can have on your career and life experience. That’s why I say Harry shouldn’t think twice.
Could he have left Spurs and stayed in England? I’m not sure on either front if Harry would have wanted that, or if Spurs would have allowed it. Manchester United have been in the market for a striker this summer, but time is not his friend. He is 30 years old. Will Man United win the Premier League or the Champions League next year? No.
And the Spurs board wouldn’t want to be constantly reminded of Harry making headlines by scoring goals for another English club, or even against them. His loss will put them in a difficult enough place without having him as a rival.
Spurs have a new manager, Ange Postecoglou, but there seems to be no clear change in that club’s direction, a new plan. Just another manager, more of the same. He’s got a big job too, as we’ve seen with Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho – and these are guys who have managed the best players at the biggest clubs in the world.
The board has £100 million to replace Harry, and they need all that and more to get a striker who can score 15-20 goals a season. When they sold Gareth Bale in 2013 for exactly the same amount, they thought they were smart to bring in seven new players before Bale was gone. But they blew most of that on pups, with Christian Eriksen being the exception.
Spurs are a classic case of non-football players making big football decisions. They consistently get it wrong. Nothing will change there any time soon.
Kane was seen walking to an underground car park after his medical treatment, before smiling as he took off in a red Audi
Bayern is a dominant force in Germany, offering Kane a chance to finally lift some silverware
To be big, Rice needs to score more goals
Is Declan Rice a great player? Not yet, but he could if he can improve on these two very important aspects of a world-class midfielder.
First, he needs to score more goals. Second, he needs to make that cute, clever pass forward to create chances for others, rather than being content with square and safe. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if they are qualities that can be coached.
If you had come to see us train in Liverpool in a small team game, what Ronnie Moran and Joe Fagan consistently shouted to us over and over was ‘Play ahead!’. The modern player seems more obsessed with completing a pass, they get away with murder.
Declan Rice needs to improve on two very important aspects to become a world class midfielder
To date, Rice has averaged less than two goals per season and less than two assists per season in the Premier League. He’s capable of getting more, especially now that he’s among the better players, but I think it’s a matter of mentality. He seems happy to perform his defensive duties, which he does excellently, but that is only part of the midfield.
Arsenal, compared to West Ham, will spend more time attacking and in the final third. Rice patrols the area 25 yards from the target. When he gets the ball, as the fields are these days, he should get it off his feet and shoot on goal. He should think: ‘I’m good enough to let the keeper work from here’. He doesn’t do that enough. That is clearly what he needs to improve. It comes back to what I said about his mindset.
Mikel Arteta doesn’t have to spend more than five minutes telling him what to do defensively. It’s all there. He covers the ground. He’s wrecking things. He senses danger. He has closed that side of the game. I think he might become a central defender one day, but at the moment his energy is best deployed in midfield. That’s a discussion for later in his career.
Arsenal have signed him as a midfielder, so Arteta needs to work to make Rice a more decisive and ruthless player when they attack, one who props himself up to become more of a goal threat.
This is Arsenal. They want to win the league and challenge Manchester City. You can’t do that without midfielders who score goals. I also don’t believe in the argument that defensive midfielders don’t have to score goals.
I’ve heard people say Rice’s addition will be worth the five points Arsenal need to make up against City, based on last season’s standings. I’m sorry, it doesn’t work that way. Football has never been an exact science.
Rice will undoubtedly make Arsenal better. But how much better? City dropped a lot of stupid points last season – they could easily have another year going beyond 90 points. It’s not as simple as saying rice will make all the difference.
The £100 million transfer fee is an incredible amount of money, but I’m sure he will handle it. You also have to consider the longevity. He could be a big player for Arsenal for the next decade if he can avoid a serious injury. They sign a player with a very good attitude. There’s so much fun about him. He cares. He has a great dynamic with his teammates and supporters. He’s a good character, I’m sure.
The challenge for him is to add goals and assists to his game – and only then are we talking about one of the greatest midfielders in world football.
Well done Simon
My Mail Sport colleague Simon Jordan revealed on talkSPORT this week that he is recovering from prostate cancer, and has now expanded on our pages.
I don’t think he realizes how much good he’s done by getting his news out. I’m sure there are plenty of men across the country now who will be monitored for his words on the radio.
He should pat himself on the back for making that announcement. I wish him all the best in his recovery.