England captain Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich from Tottenham could benefit the national team, according to manager Gareth Southgate.
The 30-year-old striker moved to Bayern from Tottenham this summer following intense speculation about his future.
Kane is England’s record goalscorer with 58 goals in 84 appearances.
“I definitely think from a selfish England perspective it’s good that his future’s settled now for the next few years,” said Southgate.
“I think potentially that can be a distraction for players. But also it’s good for him that he’s got to go and perform at a new club now. He’s been at one club for so long.”To have a change means you’ve got to impress new team-mates, new staff, new fans and also there’s the life experience of adjusting to a new country. I think there’s a lot of positives there.”
Kane, who had been with Tottenham since joining their academy in 2004, moved to Bayern for an initial 100m euros (£86.4m) plus add-ons.
He failed to win any silverware at Spurs, having been on the losing side when the London club were beaten in the 2019 Champions League final, as well as losing two League Cup finals.
However, he could win a first major trophy if he helps Bayern to a 12th successive Bundesliga title.
“I’m sure for his own belief that would be brilliant,” added Southgate, whose side play Ukraine in a Euro 2024 qualifier on 9 September in Poland and Scotland in a friendly at Hampden Park on 12 September.
“I’m not sure that he’s going to become a better player, but there might be other aspects of the mentality that this move will help him with.
“They’re probably the bits that as you get older are the only bits you can improve upon.
“I think the Bundesliga is a bit different to some of the other leagues we’ve talked about, a bit more transitional.
“There is an intensity to that. We’ll have all the data on that from training sessions and matches, so we’re able to track that really closely.
“I think the big difference for Harry this year will be that there’s going to be a lot of games where they’re very dominant and in the opposition third of the pitch, so I think there will be a lot more play for him in the penalty box I suspect than he had in the last couple of seasons.”
