How Ronaldo & Messi Are Inspiring Bayern Star Striker Harry Kane 

Harry Kane, Bayern Munich striker, continues to draw motivation from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and believes he still has “loads of years left” in him.

Kane bravely decided to leave his comfort zone at Tottenham and seal a £100 million ($123 million) transfer to the defending Bundesliga champions during the summer. He retired from Spurs as the team’s all-time leading scorer and also holds the record for England. He is now thirty years old, but he still looks to players like Ronaldo and Messi as examples of what can be done when it comes to longevity at the very top level.

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Kane has told ESPN: “I think of what they’ve done, they are as good in their 30s as they were in their 20s. Me just turning 30 now, it obviously gives me excitement to know if I keep my body in good shape and keep my mentality right, I could be playing at the highest level for as long as I want to do it. 

“Those players [Ronaldo and Messi] have set the bar – those and a few others as well – and it just motivates me and tells me that it’s possible. It is great watching those players still performing, two of the greatest players ever to play our game. For me now, it is almost the second half of my career. I’ve had a good first half; now, can the second half be even better?”

He added on what the future holds, with there still talk of him returning to the Premier League at some stage in a bid to break Alan Shearer’s all-time goal record there: “I just take it year by year. I still feel I’ve got loads of years left to play. Maybe when I get to my late 30s I’ll start thinking about what I want to do after football a bit further down the line. 

“For now, it is just about enjoying every moment, enjoying being a footballer because it goes so quick. Already, probably being at the highest level for nine years, those years have flown by. So I’m just trying to take it all in year by year, game by game, laying it all out there and delivering my best for the teams that I’m playing for and that’s what I’ll continue to do. I don’t like to get too far ahead of myself.”

When the day does come to hang up his boots, NFL fan Kane may decide to try his luck in the American form of football. He said when asked if heading down that route really is part of his grand plan, having previously talked up a possible move into placekicking: “A lot of people talk to me about that and of course I’ve always said it is something I’d like to explore at a later date, but I think it all depends on where I’m at in my career, whether I am happy to continue playing football. 

“There are a lot of question marks. It is something that is in the back of my mind but it is still a long way away. Again, it is not something I am thinking about right now. Time will tell. In life sometimes things just play out how they are supposed to play out. We’ll see in five, six, seven years where I’m at, where I want to be, what I want to do. I’ll make that decision then.”

For the time being, Kane is entirely focused on affairs at Bayern, where he has five goals in six games, including one against Manchester United on his Champions League debut for the club, to demonstrate that he can perform no matter who he is playing for or in which nation.