"Harry Kane should sign for as long as he wants," said Germany's most-capped player and Sky pundit with a smile at an RTL Germany media event, where he discussed Bayern Munich's contract negotiations with their prolific goalscorer.
Kane has reportedly already agreed the key terms of his new contract with Bayern, and a deal running until 2029 recently looked likely. Matthäus said he understood Bayern's hesitation over giving the Englishman a new three-year contract given Kane's age (33), but offered a solution: "You make it two years plus one and tie the final year to appearances. Then the contract is 32 pages rather than 28, but neither side has to show the other how strong they are."
Matthäus praised Kane as a "gentleman" and an exceptional player, singling out his freedom on the pitch: "He is everywhere and is allowed to be everywhere. That makes him unpredictable. You shouldn't take those freedoms away from him; you would take away his strength and Bayern Munich's quality." In light of Jürgen Klopp's recent comments on the subject, Matthäus suggested with a wink that the Germany head coach should "watch a few more matches".
Matthäus on German players' showing at the Ballon d'Or
For Matthäus, the absence of German players from the top 10 of the world footballer rankings is also "a reflection of the World Cup. If you go out very early with the national team again, with poor performances too, haven't swept aside every opponent in qualifying, and the difference-makers at the clubs are foreign players," he said, then their omission should come as no surprise.
"Joshua Kimmich would have fitted in there," Matthäus added, "but he wasn't allowed to show what he could do at the World Cup in the position where he perhaps belonged. I'm a fan of his, and of Florian Wirtz too, but Wirtz has his problems. Jamal Musiala has his qualities, but he has been injured repeatedly for a year and a half. Felix Nmecha would have the quality, but he shows it too rarely. So there are reasons."
Matthäus nevertheless sees Michael Olise as a possible successor to Kane at Bayern. The Frenchman has that certain something, he said, and he thought Olise's "Panenka" penalty in the cup against Magdeburg was "brilliant. Of course you can say it's provocative. But if I were a ten- or twelve-year-old boy and saw something like that, I'd say: Wow, I'd like to do that too. Because it's different."