2023-08-12 10:24:12
England center-forward and captain Harry Kane signed a four-season contract with Bayern Munich on Friday, until the summer of 2027, the Bavarian club announced in a statement on Saturday, for an estimated transfer of more than 100 million euros. Another big transfer: that of the French striker Ousmane Dembélé who signed for five years at Paris Saint-Germain.
Published on: 08/12/2023 – 10:24 Modified on: 08/12/2023 – 11:13
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Two big transfers finally materialize. Bayern Munich has finally found with Harry Kane (30) the replacement for its center forward Robert Lewandowski, more than twelve months after the departure to FC Barcelona of his Polish goal machine for eight seasons. The Munich club have put the financial means to snatch Kane from Tottenham, making the English striker the most expensive signing in the history of the Bundesliga.
World champion in 2018 with the Blues, Ousmane Dembélé has meanwhile signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint Germain, the capital club announced on Saturday August 12.
The French striker had been playing for FC Barcelona since 2017 and had renewed his lease with the Blaugrana in 2022 until 2024. But Paris took advantage of a transfer clause of 50 million euros to afford the former Rennais.
Harry Kane wanted to “evolve to the highest level”
According to German and English media, the transfer fee for Harry Kane is 100 million euros plus 10 million euros in bonuses, well above the 80 million paid by the German champions to attract the defender French international Lucas Hernandez in the summer of 2019.
“Bayern is one of the biggest clubs in the world and I have always said that I wanted to develop in my career at the highest level and prove it. Bayern is characterized by the culture of winning, it feels good to be here,” Kane explained, as quoted in the Bayern statement.
The striker had bid farewell to Tottenham supporters on social media a few minutes earlier.
Negotiations between Tottenham and Bayern have spanned more than six weeks, with Bayern closing in on Spurs chairman Daniel Levy’s price tag of 100 million pounds (about 116.5 million euros).
Once the agreement between the two clubs was concluded on Thursday, Kane gave the green light in the evening, after hesitation according to the English and German media. He then had his medical examination in Munich.
Trained at Tottenham since 2004 and then turned professional in 2011, Kane has spent 17 of the last 19 years with Spurs and will experience his first experience abroad in Bavaria, where he hopes to win his first titles.
At Bayern, he arrives in a six-time club winner of the Champions League (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013 and 2020) and German champion 33 times (including the last 11 titles), hence his nickname of “Rekordmeister”.
Dembélé, “impatient” to play at PSG
At PSG, Ousmane Dembélé (37 caps and 4 goals for the French team) joins three other players crowned at the World Cup in Russia: Kylian Mbappé, Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez. He is the Parisian club’s ninth summer recruit after defenders Milan Skriniar and Lucas Hernandez, midfielders Manuel Ugarte and Cher Ndour, forwards Marco Asensio, Lee Kang-in and Gonçalo Ramos, and goalkeeper Arnau Tenas.
“I am very happy to join Paris Saint-Germain and can’t wait to play in my new colors,” said the player, quoted in the PSG press release. “I hope to continue to grow here and make all club lovers proud.”
✍️ Ousmane Dembélé joins Paris Saint-Germain from FC Barcelona. The world champion, who will wear number 23, has signed up for 5 seasons.#WelcomeDembélé
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) August 12, 2023
At Barça, despite the injuries and a somewhat long adaptation, “Dembouz” can boast a more than honest record with 40 goals and 43 assists in 185 matches. In six years of presence in Catalonia, he won three league titles (2018, 2019, 2023) and two Spanish Cups (2018, 2021), without shining on the big European stage and the Champions League.
By enlisting Dembélé, PSG have achieved a big blow in the offensive sector and are continuing to rebuild their attack while the future of Kylian Mbappé and Neymar is very uncertain. Something to also mitigate his failures on the Harry Kane files, who preferred Bayern Munich, and Bernardo Silva, for the moment retained by Manchester City.
With AFP
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