GiveMeSport
·23 December 2023
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·23 December 2023
To say Harry Kane has had a great start to life in Germany would be an understatement. Since moving from Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023, the Englishman has exceeded all expectations.
And that's not to say he arrived in the Bundesliga with a limited reputation. After all, the Bavarian giants paid a club-record £100m fee for the striker who scored 278 goals in 430 appearances for Spurs. But his performances have been so impressive, that even his biggest fans may well be a little taken aback by how quickly he's adapted to playing outside of England for the first time in his career.
It didn't take him long to make an impact on the field, as he netted and picked up an assist on his league debut for Munich. A truckload of goals have followed since, with the 30-year-old most recently bagging a beauty in the final Bundesliga game – a 2-1 away win at Wolfsburg – before the winter break.
He'll now get a few weeks off over Christmas for the first time in his career, with Bayern not in action again until 12 January 2024. Kane certainly seemed happy about that, telling the press:
"I can't wait, it was not easy most of the time without the kids and my wife. I will text my friends and mates on Boxing Day with a picture from the beach."
With the England captain now putting his feet up and getting a well-earned break, we have decided at GIVEMESPORT that this is the perfect moment to reflect on his first half-season in Germany. Read on to learn more about his goals, assists, records and other underlying statistics which have been gathered from Transfermarkt and FBREF unless stated otherwise.
As you can see from above, goals and assists come in abundance for Kane throughout his career. Despite now being 30 years old, he shows no sign of slowing down either. Although he didn't actually score on his Munich debut – a 26-minute cameo off the bench in the 3-0 DFL-Supercup final defeat to RB Leipzig – he scored in his first two league games and hasn't stopped since.
In fact, the England international has only failed to score in three Bundesliga games so far this term, with 21 strikes in 15 games as well as five assists. In the Champions League, he has been less prolific, but still bagged four goals and three assists as Bayern finished top of Group A. He didn't play in the DFB-Pokal, watching on from the bench as his side were dumped out at the second round by third-tier side Saarbrücken.
In total, after his first 22 games for the German club, he has 25 goals and eight assists. In that period, Kane has slightly outperformed his expected goals (xG). As per FBREF, he has an xG of 18.3 so far, which is down to 15.2 when you take away penalties – of which, he has scored four from four attempts.
In terms of expected goal assists (xGA), he also has outperformed in that category with an xGA of 6.0. This shows that Kane has been running a little hot in front of goal, and suggests that his goal contribution rate could slow down a little. Even so, a player of his quality is expected to outperform his xG, and he has done so throughout his career.
Before he even kicked a ball in Munich, Kane had already broken the record for being the club's most expensive signing ever, arriving from England for £100m. This also just so happens to be the most money spent on any player in the German top flight.
And he has already beaten the tally for last season’s Golden Boot winners, set by Christopher Nkunku and Niclas Fullkrug who scored 16 each. Kane made light work of that record, reaching that many in his 11th game. It also happened to be the fastest any player has scored that many goals.
It doesn't stop just there though. He then became the quickest player to reach 20 Bundesliga goals, doing so in just 14 matches. The record was previously held by Uwe Seeler, who took 21 matches. It took Manchester City forward Erling Haaland 22 matches to reach the mark when he was at Borussia Dortmund.
What's more, he is the first Englishman to score more than 17 goals in a single Bundesliga season. Jadon Sancho managed that with Borussia Dortmund in 2019/ 20, and Kevin Keegan did the same with Hamburg in 1978/79) but Kane now tops the list. His achievements impress beyond just Germany too with the 30-year-old being the first player to reach 20 goals in Europe's top five leagues during the 2023-24 campaign.
The most obvious landmark Kane will be aiming for is the most league goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign. This was set by former Munich ace Robert Lewandowski who bagged 41 goals in 29 games in 2020/21, which is one more than Müller achieved in 1971/72.
If he can beat that tally, he will also become the most prolific English goalscorer in the Bundesliga of all time. He needs to reach 39 goals to match Tony Woodcock's record, which was achieved in 131 games.
Beyond that, he is also in the race to score the most goals in a debut Bundesliga campaign. This record was set by Seeler when he netted 30 for Hamburger SV in 1963/64, while Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is the best of the modern era with 29 for Shalke in 2011/12.
And while he is unlikely to reach the tally in the 2023/24 season, Kane may also have his eye on becoming the fastest player to reach 50 Bundesliga goals. This was set by the aforementioned Haaland, who did so in exactly 50 games for Dortmund in 2021.