Harry Kane insists he will relish the “new pressure” of challenging to win titles every year at Bayern Munich and knows success in Germany can put his name in the Ballon d’Or conversation.
It has been a whirlwind week for the England captain after he departed boyhood club Tottenham on Saturday for an initial £100million fee, which could rise to £120m with add-ons.
Kane made his Bayern debut later that same night in the DFL-Supercup but his wait for a first trophy goes on after RB Leipzig inflicted a 3-0 defeat on the Bundesliga champions.
The 30-year-old is eager to add team success to a host of individual honours on his CV during his time in Munich.
“A lot of people talk about the trophies and why I came here, but ultimately it was to improve,” Kane told Sky Sports.
“To feel a new pressure of having to win titles every year, having to go far in the Champions League and pushing myself to that limit.
“I think if you’re winning games, winning titles, winning Champions Leagues and I’m the one playing up front, it more than likely means I am scoring goals so that allows you to win other individual awards.
“But that all comes from what you achieve as a team. That’s my focus first and foremost and that all starts on Friday.
“We have a long season ahead. A lot of pressure for Bayern Munich to win the league and go far in the Champions League. That is what I am excited to try and challenge myself with.”
An outstanding 2017 resulted in Kane finishing 10th in the Ballon d’Or list but Spurs have endured a difficult few seasons since they made the Champions League final in 2019.
With Kane aware his chances of winning silverware were reducing at Tottenham, the forward made the decision to leave the north London club after a 19-year association.
He hinted part of the decision to leave Spurs was to play in the Champions League and have no regrets at the end of his career.
Kane added: “If you’re winning your league, winning the Champions League and we obviously have the European Championship next summer as well, I think as we’ve seen with the Ballon d’Or, you have to be winning team trophies to achieve that.
“Yeah, if I am scoring goals and we’re winning trophies then of course that will come into question, but it is not really what my focus is on right now.
A lot of people talk about the trophies and why I came here, but ultimately it was to improve— Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane
“I’ve always said throughout my whole career I never want to retire and feel like I could have done more or pushed myself more. That was a big part of the decision-making coming here.
“I felt like to improve and to get better I had to be playing at the highest level.
“Of course I want to win every competition that I play in, that’s the goal every season but when you finish your career, you want to make sure you pushed yourself to the limits and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”
