Harry Kane ‘wanted eye-watering salary’ to sign for Manchester United before Bayern Munich transfer

Harry Kane wanted an enormous salary to sign for Manchester United, it has been claimed.

Kane has sealed a move to Bayern Munich on a four-year deal worth up to £100million, with the England skipper set to make his debut for the Bavarian giants in Saturday’s German Super Cup game against RB Leipzig.

The 30-year-old, who will don the No.9 shirt for his new club, said: "I'm very happy to be a part of FC Bayern now. Bayern is one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I've always said that I want to compete and prove myself at the highest level during my career.

"This club is defined by its winning mentality - it feels very good to be here."

Kane won the Premier League Golden Boot three times at Spurs, while his tally of 213 Premier League goals, sees him just 48 strikes shy of Alan Shearer's league record.

And with just a year remaining on his Spurs contract, Kane had several suitors this summer, before Bayern stepped up their pursuit of the player.

United, who ultimately signed Rasmus Hojlund for £73million, were said to have initially been interested in the England captain.

Man Utd and Harry Kane

According to the Athletic, United boss Erik ten Hag was a big admirer of Kane, making the centre-forward his first-choice striker target.

However, it soon became apparent that United would struggle to get a deal over the line, with the club given the sense that Tottenham would not countenance selling to another English club.

Indeed, United had no appetite to get involved in a transfer saga that could derail their summer plans, having seen what happened to rivals Manchester City.

The Athletic claimed United also wanted to avoid a repeat of last summer, when they put all their effort into signing Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona, only to fall short on a deal.

Significantly, however, the Athletic alleged United were also under the impression that Kane was after a prohibitive £30million-a-year salary (that’s £576,000 a week). Whether that was actually the case however remains unclear.

Indeed, the publication added that even if United had pushed hard it was felt that Kane’s preference was still Bayern, given there was no guarantee that Ten Hag’s side were ready to compete for the game’s biggest honours.

Bayern Munich have claimed their 33rd Bundesliga title last season and have won the Champions League six times and German Cup on 20 occasions.

Topics: Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Transfers

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.