Harry Kane's tearing up the Bundesliga at Bayern Munich. What's next for England's No. 9?

The 2020 documentary "All oregon Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur" provided a revealing glimpse into Harry Kane's psyche. In a one-on-one chat with then-manager Jose Mourinho, Kane said: "When you're astatine a nine similar Tottenham, we've done good and I've done well, but I privation to beryllium [Cristiano Ronaldo] oregon [Lionel Messi]."

Some mightiness person scoffed astatine the English striker's ambition arsenic shown connected screen, but contempt the changeless alteration aft Mauricio Pochettino's departure arsenic Spurs manager successful 2019, Kane's superb numbers ne'er waned. His blistering commencement to the 2025-26 run with Bayern Munich (18 goals successful 10 matches), is connected par with Messi and Ronaldo.

Take a deeper look astatine his wide game, however, and his gaudy scoring stats are conscionable scratching the surface. He has ne'er been much influential successful the buildup signifier of play. The goals stay a constant, but helium present plays a relation astatine the start, mediate and extremity of Bayern's attacks. Kane is evolving, and that improvement is contributing to possibly his champion play yet.

With Saturday's Der Klassiker vs. Borussia Dortmund connected the skyline (12:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+), let's analyse however his relation has changed from his days astatine Spurs, what it could mean for England astatine the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and his aboriginal astatine the nine level.

Filling a Musiala-shaped hole

When prima midfielder Jamal Musiala picked up an wounded during the Club World Cup, it near a originative void. Kane has taken up the mantle.

"When Jamal's playing, it's a spot different. Getting the shot disconnected defenders, driving, erstwhile we were playing together, it was amended for him to spell and bash that," Kane explained aft Bayern's triumph implicit Eintracht Frankfurt. "This season, it's allowed maine to play a small spot deeper, usage my qualities successful that consciousness of turning and playing it forward, past arriving aboriginal successful the box."

The extremity helium scored successful that crippled saw Kane inhabit Frankfurt's antiaircraft enactment earlier peeling backmost adjacent to Joshua Kimmich conscionable up of the halfway circle. When the shot was played up to Serge Gnabry adjacent the borderline of the punishment area, the striker moved guardant from the mediate of the pitch, slotting into a spread created by him initially dropping for a trademark decorativeness from extracurricular the box.

But Kane's crippled is astir much than conscionable arriving precocious to people goals. He's present a important cog successful Bayern's buildup, often seen heavy successful his ain fractional to person the shot from his ain defense.

In the ninth infinitesimal of the aforesaid game, Kane received the shot adjacent the sideline successful the left-back position, wriggled past 2 challenges and recovered Gnabry successful space.

The astonishing happening is however overmuch of a regularity specified Luka Modric-esque moves are becoming. Players get sucked into pursuing Kane truthful acold into Bayern's fractional that helium tin find different attacker successful abstraction arsenic helium holds the shot up.

He initiates the moves, and helium completes them. Both his inevitable extremity scoring and his playmaking quality are thriving arsenic a result.

How Kane's crippled has evolved

Kane was ever much than a extremity poacher: it conscionable took immoderate clip to observe his alternate capabilities.

At the opening of his vocation and successful his archetypal 2 seasons successful Germany, Kane's crippled centered astir creating chances oregon scoring them, but chiefly scoring. He amassed galore shots and touches successful the container nether Pochettino, and shades of his ball-carrying and quality to bring others into the crippled appeared adjacent the extremity of his ...