MUNICH (AP) — England captain Harry Kane said Sunday that he may need time to adapt to German football following a loss in his first game for Bayern Munich and won’t “panic” if he isn’t scoring.
Kane came on as a 64th-minute substitute in a 3-0 defeat to Leipzig in the German Super Cup on Saturday after being confirmed as a Bayern player earlier in the day.
“Obviously, I’ve spent my whole career, my whole life, in England and in the Premier League so it might take a bit of adapting to get used to a new league,” he said.
“For me it’s just about settling in, as comfortable as possible, understanding the different types of teams, the way I have to play and adapt. I’ve done that throughout my whole career, whether it’s with Tottenham or the national team and I’ll do that here.”
It was a “tough decision” to leave Tottenham after 19 years, Kane admitted, despite failing to win any trophies during his time at the north London club, coming closest to major honors in the 2019 Champions League final loss to Liverpool.
He added that Bayern would be “disappointed” if it finished the season without a trophy.
Bayern is next in action in the opening game of the Bundesliga season against Werder Bremen on Friday. Kane said he will work on his link-up play with his new teammates and indicated that his time at Bayern shouldn’t be considered solely in terms of goals scored.
“It’s part of the reason I joined this club because they’ve got amazing talent and now I feel like if we can get a good connection, then of course I will score goals,” he said.
“But as always in my career, you know, I never panic if I don’t. I give my all every game. I try and work for the team and I think I’ve shown that my game is more than just goalscoring and trying to link up play and help with assists and build up. So that’s what I’ll try and do starting on Friday.”
Kane’s arrival fills a gap in the squad left when Robert Lewandowski departed for Barcelona a year ago, but Bayern is heading into the new season without an established first-choice goalkeeper. Captain Manuel Neuer hasn’t played since breaking his leg skiing in December.
Chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen took the unusual step Sunday of admitting the club had tried and failed to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea. Kepa is widely expected to sign for Real Madrid on loan.
Dreesen said Neuer isn’t expected to return until the second half of the season but his injury is hard to predict. Neuer needed another operation this month to remove metal implants from his leg.
Dreesen added he’s “confident that we will find a solution” to Bayern’s goalkeeper difficulties but it remains unclear if any new signing will be considered a candidate to replace Neuer long-term, or a stop-gap solution. Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer was sold to Inter Milan this month and longtime Neuer backup Sven Ulreich played in the loss to Leipzig.
