Harry Kane looks set to finally depart Spurs for Bayern Munich, after two summers worth of wrangling over his future in North London.
The England striker has lined out at senior level for Tottenham for over a decade now, and has established himself as one of the leading strikers in world football with his prolific goalscoring.
Kane has won the Premier League Golden Boot on three occasions, and was the top scorer at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
But, despite reaching the final of the League Cup on two occasions, as well as the 2019 Champions League final, and the EURO 2020 final with England, Kane is yet to win a trophy at senior level, and it appears he has given up on his crusade to be the Premier League's all-time leading goalscorer in favour of pushing for major honours in Germany.
There has been some debate over what impact a trophy with the Bundesliga giants would have on Harry Kane's legacy, with former Liverpool striker Michael Owen among those to join in said debate.
After it became clear that Kane is on his way to Germany, we can look back on what we learned from the debate over the past 48 hours.
The comments made by Owen encouraging his fellow countryman to remain in London are ever so slightly ironic when one looks at the career path Owen chose during his playing days.
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Michael Owen makes ironic remarks on potential Harry Kane transfer
Taking to Twitter on Thursday evening, Michael Owen said of Harry Kane's impending move to Bavaria:
I know Bayern are a massive club and I have huge respect for them but if I were Harry Kane I'd stay put.
There's no great achievement in winning a trophy with them. Real Madrid I would understand. Or one or two top Premier League clubs for that matter.
Becoming the all time Premier League top goal scorer at Spurs is a bigger achievement than winning the league in a country dominated by 1 team.
The inference was that Kane was trading in his potential legacy as Spurs' greatest Premier League goal scorer in favour of winning a "cheap" title with Bayern Munich, who have emerged victorious in the Bundesliga in the previous 11 seasons.
Of course, there were some who pointed out the manner in which Owen himself somewhat traded in his legacy as a Liverpool club great to win a Premier League title with bitter rivals Manchester United late in his career.
Though it may have alienated him from much of Liverpool's fanbase, it's hard to say Owen's overall legacy was tarnished by adding a Premier League winner's medal to his trophy cabinet, and it is similarly difficult to see any negative impact on Kane's legacy should he be successful in the Bundesliga.
The disparaging nature of Owen's remarks about the Bundesliga also failed to go down well with some football fans on Twitter.
Oh brother. Says the boyhood Liverpool academy graduate who joined Man United to busride his way to trophies🤣 https://t.co/lsVFygw2Ax
— Lyés (@LyesBouzidi10) August 10, 2023
fella joined his boyhood club’s most hated rivals just to pocket an easy title medal. https://t.co/pNbe55kmI9
— Daniel Schofield (@dannyschof81) August 10, 2023
Considering Michael Owen torched his #lfc legacy by joining United, I’m not sure Harry Kane should be taking his advice on where to move. https://t.co/dffkcnSxPH
— Kevin Hatchard 🎙⚽️ (@kevinhatchard) August 10, 2023
This is why I have a very bad relationship with English football
Why does everyone constantly find ways to put down specifically the Bundesliga. Constantly. At every opportunity. Not even for good reasons just simply to find ways to water down that one league https://t.co/7YgObtCyAY— Ben Griffis (@BeGriffis) August 10, 2023
Bayern Munich is a prestige club. European royalty. Kane can win a Bundesliga and compete for Champions League titles instantly.
‘Stay put for a top scorer record for a team in crisis’ is a pitiful recommendation. https://t.co/yQVAQ9YdGY— LE GROVE (@LeGrove) August 11, 2023
This is why ex footballers shouldn’t be given pundit jobs at all costs. Winning the UCL with Bayern is no great achievement? And is the Premier League any less dominated by City than the Bundesliga is by Bayern at this point? A classic Michael Owen take. https://t.co/6B2786Jaeb
— 𝗙𝗜𝗔𝗚𝗢 (@fiago7) August 10, 2023
To be fair to Owen, he is not the only pundit or punter to argue that Kane should stay to break the Premier League goalscoring record - but that, too, is wide of the mark.
Football, after all, was not invented in 1992, and even Alan Shearer - whose 260 goal Premier League record Kane is pursuing - actually scored 283 goals once the PL's predecessor, the First Division, is taken into account. Meanwhile, the actual record stands at 357, held by another Spurs legend Jimmy Greaves.
Of course, should Kane stay and break the 260-goal barrier, it would be an enormous achievement that would right his name into the record books. But, given the questionable nature of that "record," should that really stop Kane throwing himself into a new challenge and pushing for major honours elsewhere?
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