Harry Kane releases emotional statement after leaving Tottenham
Harry Kane has said his goodbyes to Spurs fans after leaving his boyhood club to join German champions Bayern Munich.
A lengthy transfer saga featuring the England men's team all time record goalscorer has finally come to an end with Kane leaving Tottenham Hotspur for a £100 million fee.
Having indicated his desire to leave Spurs, where the 30-year-old has had a prolific goalscoring career but no silverware to show for it, the club was faced with the dilemma of selling their star player or potentially losing him for nothing in a year's time when his contract expired.
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Despite their attempts to hang onto a striker of Kane's calibre a massive transfer fee was eventually agreed with Bayern and it's now a done deal.
Bayern get that top striker they wanted to replace Robert Lewandowski, who left the club last year, Kane gets to join a team that looks very likely to ensure he wins some trophies in his club career and Spurs are left looking for a replacement for one of the best strikers in Premier League history.
Kane was much beloved by Spurs fans, with them dubbing him 'one of our own' since he worked his way up through their youth academy and his departure will be a bitter blow for fans.
Bayern's new striker has taken to Instagram to give them a goodbye message thanking them for everything throughout the years.
"I wanted to be the first to tell you Tottenham fans that I'll be leaving the club today.
"It's sad to be leaving the club I've spent nearly 20 years of my life at from an 11-year-old boy to a 30-year-old man now. There's been so many great moments and special memories, memories that I'll cherish forever."
"This is a thank you to all my teammates over the years, all my coaches, all the managers, every single staff member to do with the club from the kit men to the chefs, everyone involved. Obviously I've built special relationships with a lot of people."
"Most importantly a thank you to you the Tottenham fans, from the moment I've been playing I've been one of your own and I've given everything I possibly could to make you proud and give you as many special moments and memories to hopefully last forever," Kane said, addressing the legions of Spurs fans who will be keenly feeling his loss.
The striker said he felt like 'this was the time to leave' as he didn't want the club to go into the new season with the unresolved issue of their best player potentially leaving.
He wished new Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou and the squad the best of luck for the new season, which for Tottenham begins tomorrow with an away game against Brentford.
Quite who Spurs will get to fill that Kane-shaped hole in their team is a matter for the club to figure out but at least they'll have £100 million to spend instead of the nothing they might have ended up with had they waited a year.
As for the chance that this is more auf weidersehen than goodbye, Kane said he'd be watching Spurs as a fan and 'you never know how things pan out in the future', so he's not entirely closed the book on a potential return one day.
Topics: Sport, Football, Harry Kane
Joe Harker