Key Takeaways:

• Harry Kane expresses his contentment with choosing Bayern Munich over Manchester United, confirming discussions with multiple clubs during the summer transfer window.
• Kane, who left Tottenham for a £100 million move, will face Manchester United in the Champions League.
• While United expressed interest in Kane, they ultimately signed Denmark striker Rasmus Højlund.
• Kane emphasizes his excitement about joining Bayern and his focus on performing well for his new team.
• He acknowledges the possibility of playing against England teammate Harry Maguire but states that competitiveness takes over once on the pitch.
• Kane defends Maguire against recent criticism and speaks about their friendship.
• Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel discusses the pressure on Manchester United and highlights the club’s legacy and expectations.

Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich Decision

In a recent press conference, Harry Kane shared his contentment with choosing Bayern Munich over Manchester United as his new club. Despite ongoing discussions with multiple clubs, Kane ultimately favored the German champions. As he prepares to face Manchester United in the upcoming Champions League match at the Allianz Arena, Kane confirmed that Bayern’s offer excited him the most.

Harry Kane: “Man United option for me last summer? Obviously there were talks with different clubs”. 🔴✨ #MUFC

“But FC Bayern was a club I was really interested in. Once they came in there weren't many other options. Manchester is a big club but I’m very happy here” 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/ZpYH0JA4vT

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 19, 2023

United’s Interest and Alternative Signing

While Manchester United, led by manager Erik ten Hag, displayed interest in the England captain, they did not proceed to make an official bid. Instead, United signed Danish striker Rasmus Højlund. Kane acknowledged that there were other suitors, but once Bayern entered the picture, negotiations primarily involved the German club and his former team, Tottenham.

🚨 | Harry Kane would have been amazing, but I’m fully invested in the future of Rasmus Hojlund 🇩🇰 🔥 #mufc pic.twitter.com/jwFAboy1yW

— The Transfer Insider (@Transferintel) September 19, 2023

Kane’s Satisfaction with Bayern Munich

Harry Kane expressed his happiness with his decision to join Bayern Munich and emphasized his focus on his current team. He recognized the possibility of facing his friend and England teammate Harry Maguire on the field but stressed that competitiveness takes precedence once the match begins.

Harry Kane is loved by Bayern Munich fans and even referees after dream starthttps://t.co/8yc2D2RzW1

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) September 19, 2023

Defending Maguire and Acknowledging Pressure

Kane defended Maguire against recent criticism, describing him as a great friend and a dedicated professional. United heads into the game against Bayern with three defeats in their last four matches, including a 3-1 loss to Brighton that marked their worst start to a Premier League season.

Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel expressed empathy for the pressure on Manchester United’s coach, noting the high expectations and legacy associated with the club. He emphasized that both Bayern and United aim to achieve significant success and highlighted the importance of instilling a winning culture within the teams.

Evaluating Recent Form

While Tuchel acknowledged that United’s recent form has created challenges, he refrained from considering it an advantage for Bayern, recognizing the quality within both teams and the significance of their respective club cultures.

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The defender of Borussia Mönchengladbach Martin Stranzl has officially revealed his intention to retire at the end of the current campaign. With tears in his eyes, the 35-year-old player has said that he is to put an end to his professional football career in the summer of 2016.

The player became part of Borussia Mönchengladbach after leaving Spartak Moscow in 2011. He has made 143 appearances for the German club and has a total of 10 goals on his record.

Stranzl has been facing some hard time lately, provided that he has missed most of the current season due to injuries. That is exactly why the player has explained that even if he managed to get back to his best form, the fact that he should eventually put an end to his carrier should not be forgotten.

After taking part in a total of 143 official matches for the Bundesliga No.6 club, the long-time captain of the squad has announced on a press conference that he made the decision to quit in the summer, after unfortunately not been able to enter the field in as many games as he would like to.

Martin Stranzl has also shared that be would like to play again over the current season, so he would do everything he could in order to enter the field again. He said that he would love to play one more game in front of his club’s amazing supporters in order to recall the fantastic moments he had at the time he was part of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Last year Stranzl, who is also a former player of Austria national football team, was persuaded not to end his career, as it was the first time he mentioned an eventual retirement. Then, he extended his contract by one more year.

Unfortunately, a calf injury has limited his chances to get game time on a regular basis since then. The 35-year-old defender has admitted that making the decision of ending his career was not an easy one, but he had to be sensible and listen to the “signs and signals” of his body.

Stranzl has made only two appearances in the Bundesliga over the 2015/2016 season because of some traumas. The player is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, and before that he had suffered an eye socket fracture.

The sporting director of the Bundesliga club Max Eberl has also commented on the news of the long-time captain’s upcoming retirement, saying that was a tragedy for the team, but he also promised they would make a good use of the situation, too.

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The 32-year-old midfielder Arjen Robben has supported his team-mate from Bayern Munich Joshua Kimmich to win his first appearance at international level for Germany.

Speaking in an interview for a reputable sports media, Arjen Robben backed the young player, saying he should be called up for the Germany squad after having only 16 appearances in the national Bundesliga so far. Robben shared that Kimmich has demonstrated excellent qualities that should be enough in order for him to enter the national team in case he continues to play on like that.

Joshua Kimmich, who is now 21 years old, became part of Bayern Munich’s starting eleven at the beginning of 2016, at a time when the club’s centre-backs Jerome Boateng, Holger Badstuber and Javi Martinez sustained injuries and the Bundesliga team’s new signing Serdar Tasci found it difficult to catch up with his form.

The former midfielder of RB Leipzig was transited back to the centre of defence by Bayern Munich’s manager Pep Guardiola. He was entered in eight of the last nine games and was left on the field for the full 90 minutes of the matches. He was only absent in the Bayern Munich’s game against Mainz 05 on March 2nd which ended with a 2-1 victory for the visitors.

In addition, Joshua Kimmich got praised for his performance in his side’s goalless draw against current Bundesliga runner-ups Borussia Dortmund on March 5th. The young midfielder played an important role on the field, especially taking into account his work against Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus.

Bayern Munich’s head coach Pep Guardiola also praised the young player after the match and said he could only offer his compliments to the 21-year-old.

It is the sports executive of the club Matthias Sammer who should be given the credits for supporting the idea of including Joshua Kimmich in the Germany national football team in the summer. Sammer revealed that at this stage there are only two options for the youngster in the summer – the Olympic Games and the European Championships, but his fate is to be decided by the coaches.

Apart from backing Kimmich, the Netherlands international Robben also shared his delight for Bayern Munich’s former president Uli Hoeness, who left prison in late February after spending there 21 months. Robben has been in the German club since arriving there from Real Madrid in 2009.

When asked if the former senior executive could be expected to return to his role at the Bundesliga champions, the 32-year-old midfielder said he was not sure if Hoeness needed such an official function at the football club, since he does everything he can for the club.

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According to media reports, manager Pep Guardiola has been spotted in Amsterdam, meeting up with the football director of Manchester City Txiki Begiristain. The current head coach of Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich has already revealed that he is to leave the German club in order to take charge of Manchester City in the summer of 2016 after the expiration of his current contract.

Guardiola has previously revealed that he had agreed a three-year contract with the English club, after being rumoured as a managerial target of several of the largest European clubs.

On Monday, the Spaniard was pictured along with the senior official of Manchester City. The couch has initially insisted that the move to the Premier League team would not distract him in any way from his obligations as a manager of Bayern Munich until the end of the current campaign. Now, according to media reports, Guardiola was in the Netherlands in order to meet up with Begiristain, who is a close friend of his since the time they worked together at Barcelona.

Txiki Begiristain was also rumoured to have helped bringing Guardiola to Manchester City after the end of the 2015/2016 season. He is also the person who makes final decisions when it comes to transfers to the Etihad Stadium, including the final decision of some big signings that are expected by the English club to happen over the summer.

The meeting of Guardiola with Manchester City’s football director came less than 2 days after the 0-0 draw of his side with their Bundesliga title rivals Borussia Dortmund.

After officially revealing his decision to leave his current side for the Premier League club, Pep Guardiola was asked several times how he would cope with this coaching obligations at Bayern Munich while preparing to take over the managerial position at Manchester City. Guardiola then shared he is great multitasking and considers himself fully capable of controlling both situations, so it would not be a problem neither for him, nor for the German club.

In addition, the Spaniard has also revealed that his primary focus would stay at Bayern Munich until his last day with the club. Guardiola confirmed that he would give his best for the team until this current deal expires in June 2016.

Currently, Bayern Munich occupies the first position in the Bundesliga table, five points clear of Borussia Dortmund that have a total of 58 points on their record. The third place is occupied by the team of Hertha Berlin.

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The 28-year-old midfielder of Bayern Munich Arturo Vidal seems to have managed to get back to his previous form after facing struggling for form lately. The star recruit was the largest investment of the Bundesliga champions last summer by becoming part of the squad after a €37-million transfer from Juventus.

Vidal has been considered one of the fans’ favourites, provided the Champions League success, but unfortunately, he did not manage to justify the massive transfer price paid by the Bundesliga club to bring him to their ranks from Italy at first.

In fact, the midfielder looked somehow bored over his first six months spent at Bayern Munich. Some even considered him as a wrong move of Bayern Munich, despite the fact he was one of the key players for Juventus, bringing the Old Lady all the way to the Champions League final, and then winning the Copa America with the Chile national football club in 2015.

Arturo Vidal is considered a great box-to-box midfielder with his aggressive style of play. He is often unpredictable, which makes him even more dangerous for the opponents, and has often been compared to players like Stefan Effenberg and Mark van Bommel. His jawdropping performances in the Champions League semi-finals against the teams of Barcelona and Real Madrid resulted in Vidal being praised as the missing piece of Bayern Munich’s squad under manager Pep Guardiola.

So, Vidal was made part of the club in attempt to bring more protection and strength in the midfield to Bayern Munich. The player managed to feature in every Bundesliga match over the current season in spite of the fact he could not find a proper place in the manager’s possession-based system, but stayed benched over his side’s 2-0 win against VfL Wolfsburg on February 27th.

Apart from being struggling for his best form, Vidal also was subjected to strong criticism from Franz Beckenbauer for his underperformances lately. He was also judged as bad for his nocturnal activities by the local media.

Still, in the light of recent difficulties faced, Arturo Vidal has managed to get back to his old self in 2016. The technical director of Bayern Munich Michael Reschke praised the player, calling him “a machine” and a “big game player.”

It seems that the recent criticism faced have brought Vidal some extra motivation to impress, which has helped him resurge in 2016. The 28-year-old midfielder, who is also part of the Chile national football team, made a fabulous performance in his side’s first leg of the Champions League competition against Juventus. He also proved his qualities over the most important domestic match of Bayern Munich over the current campaign against Borussia Dortmund on March 5th.

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The future of Ilkay Gundogan at Borussia Dortmund after his current contract’s expiration date has not been decided yet. The information has come to the public at a time when the 25-year-old midfielder has been strongly linked with an eventual move to Premier League’s Manchester City and Serie A’s Juventus.

The Germany-born midfielder was one of the key players in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 Bundesliga win over Hoffenheim on February 28th. The player, who is also part of Germany national football team, has a contract with the Bundesliga No.2 team until 2017. Previously, he has agreed a new deal last summer, after the club announced they had believed that Gundogan would prefer to not ink new terms but leave the squad instead.

Still, Ilkay Gundogan is set to make a final decision about his future in long term. It has not been officially announced yet if he would choose to stay at the German team in spite of Borussia Dortmund’s eventual return to Champions League in the 2016/2017 campaign after a year in the Europa League.

When asked about his contract situation in an interview for a reputable local media, Gundogan himself denied that a decision has been made. The sporting director of the football club – Michael Zorc – on the other hand, revealed that his side is determined to continue to negotiate with the midfielder.

Zorc said that Ilkay Gundogan is clearly one of the club’s key players. That is exactly the reason why the club intend to do everything they can in order to prolong the player’s stay at the Westfalenstadion. Borussia Dortmund’s sporting director shared that his side would be more patient in case they need to in order to make sure the situation is solved in the best possible way.

Still, Borussia Dortmund’s side hope that Gundogan would not postpone his decision until the end of the current campaign. According to media reports, the Bundesliga No.2 prefer to solve the matter in March.

In the middle of February, Borussia Dortmund turned down speculations that the 25-year-old midfielder had already reached an agreement with Premier League’s Manchester City. There have been various rumours roaming around the Spanish media that the player had refused a transfer bid from Barcelona in order to join Manchester City’s ranks, but the German team utterly denied such an agreement had been made.

Gundogan has been also pointed as a transfer target of Liverpool, but the midfielder himself commented that he felt relaxed about his future and explained he is in no rush to determine his long-term future.

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An investigation has been opened by the German Football Association against the current manager of Bayer 04 Leverkusen Roger Schmidt as well as against the club’s sporting director Rudi Voller. The measures have been taken following the discussions related to Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s, 1-0 defeat in their Bundesliga game against the team of Borussia Dortmund.

The match that took place on February 21st was halted when the Bundesliga No.4 manager Schmidt refused to leave the field after referee Felix Zwayer sent him off.

In fact, the referee had already warned Bayer Leverkusen’s boss when the latter protested against the goal that Borussia Dortmund netted in the 64th minute of the match. The goal was scored by 26-year-old striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after a free kick of Borussia Dortmund‘s side almost 6 metres away from the spot where Sven Bender had been fouled by Bayern Leverkusen’s striker Stefan Kiessling.

Manager Schmidt was informed twice by his side’s captain Kiessling to leave the pitch, but he refused. This resulted into the referee Zwayer choosing to halt the game, following the rulebook. The match was stopped for nine minutes, after which players returned to the field, and Schmidt stayed in the dressing room.

The things did not go well for Bayern Leverkusen over the remaining 25 minutes of the game, since they were denied a penalty after the ball appeared to be played by their opponents’ defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos appeared with his arm inside the box. The penalty denial resulted in the club’s sporting director Rudi Voller protests. Voller also suggested that the referee decision was a consequence of his side’s previous misconduct and claimed that Zwayer was not neutral.

The German refereeing chief Herbert Fandel revealed in an official statement published on the DFB website that he was still unable to think of something to say over the incident. Fandel also expressed his discontent that match officials have been progressively treated with increasing disrespect over the current campaign.

The case is now to be put under scrutiny by the DFB, with the latter announcing that it has already opened investigations against both manager Schmidt and sporting director Voller. Additionally, the DFB explained that the sanctions that are to be imposed on Bayern 04 Leverkusen boss could include a dugout ban or, even more seriously, a suspension for working with his team.

The punishments are expected to be officially announced later this week.

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It seems that the 25-year-old midfielder Havard Nordtveit has got an ultimatum from his current side Borussia Mönchengladbach amid some ongoing speculations concerning his future.

The sporting director of the Bundesliga No.5 team – Max Eberl – has revealed that the football club has required from Nordtveit to make a final decision about his future by the end of the month.

The thing is that the player, who is also part of Norway national football team, has entered the last several months of his current contract at the German team. He, however, has still not agreed to a further extension, and has been at the same time intensely linked with an eventual move to Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund and Premier League’s Liverpool in the last few months.

Havard Nordtveit, now 25, is known as a pretty versatile defensive player. He has a total of 159 appearances for his side in Bundesliga matches since joining the club from Arsenal in January 2011. In addition, the defender has been playing a key role in the squad, especially when taking into consideration their revival over the last few years.

After the 1-0 victory over the team of 1. FC Köln on February 20th, the sporting director of Borussia Mönchengladbach was reported to have issued an ultimatum to the Havard Nordtveit when speaking to reporters. He said that February should not end without a decision about the player’s future.

It was exactly after the Saturday game, when Eberl insisted that Borussia Mönchengladbach would like the Norwegian to choose to stay at Borussia Park.

Last week, Max Eberl revealed that his side still remain optimistic when it comes to Nordtveit. He said that the Bundesliga club hope to finally reach an agreement with the player and explained in an interview for a reputable media that the midfielder had been made a great offer by the club, which is why the latter are still optimists they would succeed in retaining the Norwegian within their ranks.

In addition, last week the player himself shared that he would made final consideration about staying at the Bundesliga club’s ranks or leaving their side when his agent returns from his holidays. The 25-year-old midfielder has previously hinted that he could come up with a final decision very soon.

Borussia Mönchengladbach currently occupies the 5th position in the Bundesliga table. The German team has one more game left until the end of the month – the match against FC Augsburg on February 28th. Then it is to face VfB Stuttgart in a Bundesliga game on March 2nd.

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Bayern Munich have revealed that David Alaba is not expected to begin negotiations over an eventual contract extension until the end of the 2015/2016 campaign.

As a matter of fact, there are still a couple of years to run on the 23-year-old defender’s current deal. However, Austria-born Alaba could follow some a number of other players including Thomas Muller, Javi Martinez and Jerome Boateng, who have also inked new contracts with the current Bundesliga leaders.

The young player, who is also part of Austria national football team, has been recently rumoured as a transfer target of several of the best European football clubs, including Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Alaba has been intensely linked with an eventual move to Real Madrid. According to some speculations, he is more likely to follow Pep Guardiola to Premier League after Bayern Munich’s coach leaves his current side in the summer, although reports suggested that the manager could bring in no players from the Allianz Arena.

The defender himself, however, denied making any transfer plans in an interview on Thursday. He revealed that he would prefer to focus on the current season with Bayern Munich and not to waste any thoughts on future decisions.

Over the last few weeks, Alaba has been forced to play as a makeshift centre-back because Jerome Bateng and Holger Badstuber are both suffering injuries. Although that this is not exactly his natural role, Alaba has said that he would help his side if Bayern Munich’s manager plays him there.

Bayern Munich that is now first in the Bundesliga table is to face the team of Darmstadt 98 on February 20th. Alaba has ruled any concerns that his side are more focused on the upcoming Champions League game against Juventus that is scheduled for February 23rd. The 23-year-old defender insisted that his and his team-mates’ minds are fully focused on the Saturday’s Bundesliga fixture.

Alaba explained in a statement posted on his side’s official website that the entire squad take the match against Darmstadt 98 very seriously. He also shared that Bayern Munich are always fond of playing in front of their own supporters.

The opponents of current Bundesliga leaders are stripped of five of their players in Saturday, as the latter got suspended in the team’s last game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Darmstadt 98 occupy the 13th position in the Bundesliga table, but at the pre-match press conference their manager Dirk Schuster promised that his side would hive their best.

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Hamburger SV have confirmed that they are interested in attracting the defender of Borussia Dortmund Neven Subotic to their ranks.

The 27-year-old centre-back has been facing some difficulties to enter the first-team squad since Thomas Tuchel came as a replacement of Jurgen Klopp at the managerial position in the summer of 2015. According to media reports, the Serbian-born player has been a transfer target of Hamburger, but until now there has not been an official confirmation on the matter.

The sporting director of Hamburger SV – Peter Knabel – has finally revealed that his side had been considering to eventually make a transfer offer for Subotic over the winter window. Knabel explained that Subotic was one of the “most prominent” players that his side were interested in signing and shared that the Bundesliga No.11 team could now make a bid for the defender at the end of the current campaign.

The sporting director of Hamburger also said that his side was well aware of the fact that the player was in a difficult situation, hinting that the club knew about Subotic’s struggle for game time. Still, Knabel said that Hamburger should have trust in their current squad in order to become more confident.

As a matter of fact, Neven Subotic made an impressive performance in his side’s 1-0 victory over Hannover 96 on February 13th. However, unfortunately for him, this was only the third Bundesliga game he has been entered under manager Thomas Tuchel. The 27-year-old defender is expected to be part of the club’s DFB Pokal matches over the season. He has been entered as part of the starting eleven in only two Europa League games in 2015/2016 campaign.

Hamburger SV is not the only team that Subotic has been linked to. Considering the fact that former head coach of Hamburger – Jurgen Klopp – is now a manager of Liverpool, the defender has been strongly linked with an eventual move to the Premier League, too. However, according to some media reports, Subotic would prefer to remain in the Bundesliga. The player is considered to be quite engaged with his charity foundation that has helped create wells in Mozambique and Ethiopia over the last few years.

According to other speculations, the defender would choose to leave the Bundesliga in case he leaves his current side in the summer. In 2015, Subotic extended his contract until 2018.

Unfortunately, Hamburger SV may struggle to finance a transfer for the centre-back, who is estimated at no less than €6 million. This week, the Bundesliga No.11 team posted a record loss of €17 million for its 2014/2015 financial year, which makes their total debt amount to about €90 million.

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