Exclusive: Owen Hargreaves backs Harry Kane to return to Premier League to break Alan Shearer's record

Harry Kane can break records in the Bundesliga before returning to the Premier League to eclipse Alan Shearer’s goal tally of 260, according to Owen Hargreaves.

The 30-year-old has put pen to paper on a four-year deal at Bayern Munich, leaving Tottenham as a club legend having scored 213 league goals, 47 short of Shearer’s record.

Last season Kane became just the third player to score 200 Premier League goals, surpassing Wayne Rooney in second spot on the list.

Kane is also his country’s leading goalscorer internationally with 58 goals in 84 appearances for England.

In the immediate term, the Three Lions skipper will have targets in mind with Bayern, but Hargreaves believes he would still love to surpass Shearer before he retires.

“I think he's still got time to break that record,” said Hargreaves in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports.

“He’s ageing like a fine wine, if anything he’s getting better. If he’s 34 and he comes back to the Premier League, I wouldn’t put it past him to play another four years, and let’s be honest [breaking Shearer’s record] is going to be easily done for Harry, if he feels like it.”

In an “ideal world”, Kane would have stayed at Tottenham and won trophies in London, says Hargreaves, but with Spurs failing to even seal a European place last season, “that didn’t look like materialising any time soon”.

Hargreaves continued: “At 30 years-old, Harry probably thought: ‘right, I’ve got to win trophies’.

“Obviously, the records are all right at the end of his career but I’m guessing he thinks: ‘I can do three, four years at Bayern Munich, win some trophies, maybe even the biggest one, the Champions League’.

"I think the only thing that is missing on Harry’s CV is some trophies and let’s be honest, Bayern Munich is almost one of those guaranteed destination for trophies. I’m just sure he and Thomas Tuchel want the big one which is the Champions League.”

Bayern may have scored 92 goals as they retained their Bundesliga crown last season but they relied heavily upon former Stoke City striker Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting who managed just 17.

Hargreaves feel that Kane will “easily get 40 goals” and could threaten Robert Lewandowski’s record of 41 in a single season.

At Tottenham, Kane has often dropped deep to help build attacks, but Hargreaves feels with so many creative players in Bayern’s ranks he will be allowed to operate more as a predator in the box.

“Yeah, I think he'll be in line to potentially break some of the records,” Hargreaves said.

“I think Harry Kane will relish playing in a team with [Serge] Gnabry, [Kingsley] Coman, [Leroy] Sane, [Jamal] Musiala, Thomas Muller and [Joshua] Kimmich.

“He won't have to drop deep and run the game anymore and pick passes, which he can do. You know, he can just be in the box and just be a lethal finisher. And I think, in that sense, I think he could easily get 40 goals, and if he stays fit he could break records there too."

On how he will fit in tactically at Bayern, Hargreaves explained: “I think the smart players you don't really tell them what to do. Obviously, they want to play with structure, but you buy them because you want what they give you and Harry is such an instinctive footballer.

“If you look at some of the great football players, you talk about strength, size and speed, Harry is so smart – he’s not a guy that relies on his size, his strength and speed; he’s more about being one step ahead mentally, and he’s a lethal finisher with both feet.

“So, I think in that sense, Harry Kane is perfect because he’ll be surrounded by some amazing creative players, and he can just focus on scoring goals which he probably does as good as anyone in the world.”

Hargreaves continued: “Obviously, he’s played with some great players at Tottenham, but at Bayern – with the utmost respect to those guys – the level has just gone up a little bit in terms of overall quality.

“He won’t have to rely on players getting the ball in certain areas, he can just be there and everybody can get him the ball however he wants it and however he needs it.

“I think he’s going to love, not having less responsibility, but not having to worry about everybody else’s performance. I think now he’s in a place where he can just smash in goals for fun.”

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