Germany icon and former Bayern Munich midfielder Lothar Matthaus has accused Tottenham of ‘blackmailing’ the Bavarian giants into paying a club-record fee for Harry Kane.
The Bundesliga champions eventually prised Kane away from the north London club for a staggering £100million after complex and lengthy negotiations that saw the England captain’s proposed flight to Munich delayed at the last while the two parties thrashed out the details.
Tottenham’s all-time leading goalscorer had featured for the club since his first senior start in 2009, and chairman Daniel Levy was unwilling to let the talismanic player go for less than a premium price.
Levy, a famously tough negotiator, had long rejected offers from Premier League rivals but as Kane was set to enter the final year of his contract, the executive reluctantly let the player leave days before Tottenham’s first Premier League match of the new campaign away at Brentford.
But Matthaus believes thought Kane – despite his undeniable talent – had been somewhat unfairly priced for his former club.
‘Those in charge at Bayern were and are 100 per cent convinced of Harry Kane,’ the ex-Inter Milan player told Sky90. ‘And that’s why they stretched themselves, that’s why they pushed their limits.
‘And maybe Bayern has also – in quotation marks – been a little blackmailed by Tottenham. Another million more, and a little bit more. They wanted this player.
‘And I say – 100 million for a 30-year-old – Lewandowski was three years older when he left and went to Barcelona for around €50 million (£42m) – I now assume it will pay off.’
Kane’s transfer to Bayern smashes the club’s record by a considerable margin. Lucas Hernandez, who cost the club £68.3million (€80m) in 2019, held the title before the England captain.
Credit: dailymail.co.uk
