German media: 'Bayern harms the Bundesliga by buying Kane'
Thousands of fans watched Kane's flight to Munich for medical check-ups on August 11. After that, they gathered and gave endless applause when the English striker was at the club's Sabener Strasse headquarters to complete the final stages of the transfer and sign a four-year contract, with a weekly salary of about 525,000 USD.
Contrary to the joy and eagerness of the fans, the German media questioned the record fee of German football - $132 million - that Bayern paid Tottenham. They also consider the recruitment of the 30-year-old British super-talented German football's failure to develop "homegrown" talent.
"Kane is now officially a Bavarian," was the headline of an article, and the greetings and greetings for "Herry" - how some Germans pronounce the 30-year-old striker's name - came thick and fast. quickly during Kane's first press conference on August 13. Here he was surrounded by bottles of water and Bavarian wheat beer.
Bild - Germany's largest daily - called for German football to have a quiet time to reflect after the Kane deal. The newspaper even called the fee of 132 million USD for the England striker a "cursed indictment for Bayern and German football".
"At what price?", the daily asked readers on August 13 and expressed concern about the lack of quality German strikers. "Why has Germany been unable to develop its own talented strikers over the years, where we used to have a constant supply? Why don't we try to develop our own talents, especially in the context of being surpassed financially by the UK?", Bild continued to ask.
Since then, the German daily said that the amount of 132 million USD would be better used if it was invested in the future. "Just a few million dollars in this deal is invested in the training of young people, everything will be much better," the daily commented.
Kane's lackluster debut in the 0-3 defeat to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup made this case even more controversial. "First Kane hype, now hangover," was the headline of a Der Spiegel post shortly after the Allianz game.
This leading German political newspaper also borrowed the words of RB Leipzig Sports Director, Max Eberl to comment on Bayern's record deal: "That amount is too large. As if Kane is the savior, the one walking on the face of the earth. But freezing doesn't depend on single individuals, it's a team sport."
However, Der Spiegel still believes that the recruitment of Kane will widen the gap in qualifications between Bayern and the rest of the Bundesliga teams, despite the latest results in the German Super Cup. "With German football, it simply means that things will become more boring," the newspaper continued. "Good deal for Bayern, but not necessarily useful for the Bundesliga, because the two are linked overall."
According to Der Spiegel football expert Danial Montazeri, Kane will help Bayern become stronger, more dangerous in the box and more flexible. As a result, Montazeri believes this $132 million deal will further reduce the already low level of competition between Bayern and the rest of the Bundesliga. But this expert also emphasized that the presence of the English striker does not guarantee that Bayern will be crowned in the Champions League.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung, a daily newspaper published in Munich and Germany's most subscribed daily, uses the fact that Kate - Kane's wife is about to give birth to a fourth child - as a metaphor for life. negotiations lasted nine months with painful contractions in the last days of pregnancy. The newspaper further commented that this is "a crazy deal and needs to be analyzed by historians and will really go down in history as the first to have a large number of participants think not." thoughtful".
Die Zeit pointed to the lack of consistency on the part of Bayern in the recruitment of Kane. The newspaper quoted honorary chairman Uli Hoeness as saying earlier this year that Bayern would be "completely insane" to buy Kane for a fee according to Tottenham's valuation. But by this summer, it was Hoeness who repeatedly publicly wanted to sign the 30-year-old striker and was confident to complete the deal despite obstacles from Tottenham.
"However, the fans are still very happy," Die Zeit continued. "After weeks of negotiations with boring hourly updates, it's very fitting for the age of commercial football. The media, as well as the fans, are calling for more investment, as if it were not. Is there any other way to gather and build a strong team. The development of young talent is like an old-fashioned thing."
Bayern has aggressively pursued Kane since the beginning of this summer, after failing to find a possible striker to fill the void Robert Lewandowski - the star who joined Barca in the summer of 2022 - left. They made three bids and were rejected by Tottenham, before agreeing on Kane's transfer fee at a fixed $ 110 million and 22 million surcharges at the end of August 10.
The 30-year-old British striker then flew from London to Munich for a medical check-up, then signed a contract to practice with Bayern on the afternoon of August 12, before being registered to play the German Super Cup match with RB Leipzig in the afternoon. evening of the same day. However, Kane's debut turned into a disaster when Bayern lost 0-3 right at the Allianz. He replaced 18-year-old striker Mathys Tel in the 64th minute, when Bayern were 0-2 lead. In nearly half an hour on the field, Kane only touched the ball three times, passed two passes, lost the ball once and failed to finish or pass successfully.
