Harry Kane forced Tottenham into transfer gamble Liverpool would hate to make

It was the transfer Tottenham Hotspur had been dreading for years. On August 12, Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich in a £100m deal.

With nine career goals from 17 career appearances against Liverpool, those of a Reds persuasion, along with the rest of the Premier League’s elite, will have breathed a sigh of relief at the striker’s departure. After all, a Spurs side without their chief tormentor would surely no longer be as big a threat to Jurgen Klopp’s side and co.

Having long flirted with a possible departure from North London, such an exit had been a long time coming. Yet to win a major trophy during his career, the 30-year-old had wanted to join Man City two years ago when Spurs rejected an £127m bid. Meanwhile, Manchester United have repeatedly been credited with interest in the England captain, prior to his move to Bavaria.

And on the face of it, the timing of Kane’s long-speculated exit from Tottenham was far from ideal for the North London club. Despite his future being the subject of a summer-long saga, his departure was only confirmed the day before Spurs’ Premier League season got underway.

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Consequently, they started the new campaign without a replacement for their talisman who had scored 280 goals in 12 seasons for the club. Meanwhile, they would have to wait until transfer deadline day to land their high-profile attacking signing of the summer, bringing in Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest in a £47.5m deal.

Under the stewardship of yet another new manager in Ange Postecoglou, it was already set to be