Harry Kane motivated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and admits ‘misconception’ over Bayern Munich role

The prolonged careers of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo gives Harry Kane the ‘motivation’ to continue.

Kane may be 33 years old, but he has aged like a fine wine.

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Last term, Kane slammed home an absurd 61 goals in 51 matches for Bayern Munich, the most he’d ever scored in a single season.

A further six goals at the World Cup for England helped solidify his Ballon d’Or chances, where he is widely considered a strong favourite for the award.

Kane is already up and running this season for the Bavarian giants with two goals in four games, although he is yet to get off the mark in the Bundesliga.

Intriguingly, Kane’s future beyond this season remains unresolved as his contract expires at the end of the campaign.

However, Kane has allayed any fears among Bayern supporters that he will leave as he confirmed talks are underway regarding an extension.

Harry Kane explains why he’s motivated to prolong his career

That news will not be welcomed by Bayern’s domestic or continental rivals given Kane has netted 148 goals since he joined in August 2023 and has no immediate plans to slow down, pointing to how Messi and Ronaldo, two of the sport’s greatest, continue to score for fun.

“I never like to put limits on what I can achieve before every season,” Kane said in an interview with TNT Sports.

“I maybe set myself a crazy aim and see what I can do. This season, obviously, I think it’s close to 20 more goals than I’ve ever scored in my career and I’ve had some amazing seasons as a striker.

“I think at this stage you just try and cherish these moments. The moment I’m in right now, I feel so good – I’ll say how can I just sustain this and just make sure that this lasts forever.

“As we know it, it won’t – but when I see players like Messi and Ronaldo and Luka Modric and these players playing until late 30s or Ronaldo’s in his 40s now, Luka is in his 40s, it gives me the motivation to be able to do that.

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“Again, a lot of it comes with the mentality as well – what you’ve achieved, what you’re pushing for. Are there other trophies you want to try and win? Are there other targets you want to try and reach?

“But for now, I want to be at the best level for as long as possible, and obviously being at Bayern, I know I’m going to be challenging for titles every year, challenging for the Champions League.

“I still have things I want to win at club level, I want to win at international level. It’s just about trying to use this moment now for as long as possible.”

Pivotal to Kane’s goalscoring exploits is the way he happily moves around the field rather than remaining up top, as most traditional strikers do.

Why does Harry Kane drop deep during games?

However, Kane’s off-ball movement has led to some detractors claiming he drops too deep to get involved, meaning there is no focal point up top.

But Kane clapped back at those claims and insisted his style of play was even encouraged by Bayern boss Vincent Kompany, who was a hard-nosed centre-back during his playing days.

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“I think there’s a misconception sometimes that if you are dropping deep that you are too far away from the goal,” Kane said.

“Yes, that has an element of truth if you’re willing to then arrive into the box.

“But when you play as a nine sometimes, it’s so easy just to get man-marked out of the game, or you’re waiting for everyone to find you. You’re playing against two centre-backs most of the time, sometimes you’re not going to touch the ball and you’re just being marked.

“And actually, I spoke about it with Vinnie, sometimes the higher you stay, the easier it’s for them. You think you’re staying out of way for the team or for the number 10 to play but actually, you’re just being marked out of the game.

“Especially last season I would get it in the deeper areas, almost like a six position… I then arrive late into the box which is hard to mark because the midfielder doesn’t know whether to fully track me, the full-back or the centre-back are focused on someone else and don’t see you coming into the box.

“So, I actually get more chances of arriving from deep rather than just standing in the middle of the box.”

Kane will look to add to his goals for the season on Thursday when Bayern host Bodo/Glimt in their Champions League opener, with kick-off scheduled for 8pm.