Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane says he never really cared about the Premier League scoring record

The English media have this weird obsession with the Premier League goalscoring record. Set by Alan Shearer sometime between the Jurassic Era and the Stone Age, it came up a lot while Bayern Munich were in pursuit of Harry Kane this summer. The gist of the argument was this:

“Harry can’t leave England! He hasn’t beaten Shearer’s record yet!”

Well, we all know what happened next. Tottenham Hotspur settled for a fee in the €100 million range, and Kane headed off to Munich. Speaking to the media ahead of his club’s upcoming game against Manchester United, Kane admitted that he’s never much cared for the scoring record in the first place.

I don’t think it was something I was thinking about. Of course there was a lot of noise around it, and I completely understand, being so close to the record. Those individual records have never been something that I’ve solely focused on. They’re a consequence of hard work and doing my best for the team and as time goes on you get closer and closer.

Ultimately for me it was about ‘how can I push myself, how can I get better?’ and I felt like challenging for the Champions League, challenging for titles every year was the best way to put myself in that situation.

That’s why I chose Bayern Munich and that’s why I’m here now. That’s where my focus is at the moment.

So there we have it, from the man himself. Actual trophies > ephemeral goalscoring records. After all, given the way Haaland has been scoring, Kane probably wouldn’t have held that record for long even if he had broken it. So maybe he should set his eyes on a more prestigious record, that of 41 goals in a single season scored by Robert Lewandowski back in 2020/21.

Now THAT is a record worth breaking.