"Kane will be desperate to play at Old Trafford, not only because it will be a grand occasion - and he loves those - but because it will be a chance to rack up some more goals … and he loves doing that."
13:14, 09 Nov 2023
Let's face it, if Manchester United need to win their final group game to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages, their main hope is that Thomas Tuchel leaves Harry Kane in Bavaria. It is probably their only hope. Having seen what Copenhagen did to this United defence, Kane will have a field day at OId Trafford if he plays on December 12.
There is a chance the England captain will be rested. Following their fixture against Erik ten Hag’s side, Bayern Munich have a couple of Bundesliga fixtures inside the week leading up to their festive break, the first of which is a meeting with VFB Stuttgart who currently lie third in the table.
But Kane will be desperate to play at Old Trafford, not only because it will be a grand occasion - and he loves those - but because it will be a chance to rack up some more goals … and he loves doing that.
It goes without saying that one of the main reasons Kane has gone to Germany is that it gives him an odds-on chance of ending his quest for team honours. Major honours. Kane would probably tell you that is the only reason, more or less. But you can bet it is not.
Kane has become a magnificent team player, make no mistake, but his pursuit of personal goalscoring milestones is magnificently relentless - just as it should be for any world-class striker.
When Alan Shearer had a choice between Manchester United and Newcastle United, the story went that he first met Kevin Keegan and then Sir Alex Ferguson. During his chats, he asked Keegan who would be taking penalties if he joined. Keegan laughed. You, of course. Shearer asked Fergie, who hesitated. He had Eric Cantona, who would not take kindly to being removed from 12-yard duty. And if Shearer’s mind needed making up, that was that.
That might be a touch apocryphal but it would be perfectly in keeping with a great striker’s single-mindedness. They love nothing more than an individual award. That is why Kane once topped off the family Christmas tree with one of his Golden Boots rather than a sparkly star, or a fairy. Honestly.
When he was weighing up his post-Spurs destination, Kane would have thought about where he would most likely score the most goals. And if and when he walks out at Old Trafford - and possibly knocks Ten Hag’s side out of the Champions League - it will be a symbol of United’s biggest decade-long failing.
Because while United were roundly castigated for not making a serious effort to sign Kane, perhaps they knew he would not even consider a move to Old Trafford as he was well aware of that major failing.
For ten full seasons, United’s incoherent recruitment programme has systematically produced a squad that fails to create enough goalscoring chances, simple as that. In those ten full seasons, United have averaged 61.6 Premier League goals per campaign compared to Manchester City’s 91.5.
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In the last ten seasons, Bayern Munich have averaged 91.1 league goals per campaign - and the Bundesliga has 18 teams, making the average-per-match actually higher than City’s. Where am I more likely to win trophies? At Bayern or United? Silly question. Where am I going to score more goals? Even sillier question.
Kane is not daft. If the move would have been a possibility, he would have looked at United’s dysfunctional transfer dealings and known the currency he loves - scoring chances - would have been at a premium.
Maybe Kane will not play in that final Champions League game but if he does, he will be a free-scoring, painful reminder of what has gone wrong at Old Trafford over ten, long years.
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