Bayern Munich ‘blackmailed’ by Tottenham into spending €100m on Harry Kane, says Lothar Matthaus

The Bundesliga giants made the England captain their top target for the summer when making the addition of another proven striker their No.1 priority. Kane was quickly identified as the man to fill the boots of former attacking talisman Robert Lewandowski at the Allianz Arena.

Spurs, though, are famed for their stubborn approach to sales, with club chairman Daniel Levy not a man to offload prized assets without putting up a fight. That proved to be the case with Kane, as Bayern ended up parting with a club-record fee after seeing several offers knocked back.

Matthaus has suggested that Bayern were ultimately forced into paying over the odds for a 30-year-old with only 12 months left on his contract, with the World Cup winner telling Sky90: “Those in charge at Bayern were and are 100 per cent convinced of Harry Kane. 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 - I now assume that it will pay off.”

Kane missed out on an elusive trophy immediately after joining Bayern, as they suffered a shock defeat to RB Leipzig in the DFL-Supercup. He did, however, open his goal account for the club in a 4-0 win over Wolfsburg on the opening weekend of Bundesliga action and is determined to get his hands on major silverware.