Harry Kane has a release clause in his Bayern Munich contract that could eventually facilitate a return to England. Sources close to Kane have not commented on a report in Germany by Bild that claims the England captain has a clause that could have meant he left Bayern for £67 million this winter and will reduce to £54 million when it is active again next winter.

But Telegraph Sport understands that there indeed a release clause in Kane’s Bayern contract, even though he is said to be extremely happy in Germany and has no thoughts of activating it any time soon. Premier League clubs are already aware of the existence of Kane’s release clause, which could be crucial to a potential return to England.

Kane moved to Bayern on a four-year contract for £100 million in August 2023, with Tottenham Hotspur also securing a first-option agreement as part of the transfer. That would only be applicable should Bayern agree to sell Kane and the striker wanted to return to Tottenham, where he spent 13 years and became the club’s all-time highest scorer.

There is no fixed fee in Spurs’ first-option agreement, meaning the club would still have to trigger his release clause or negotiate a price with Bayern for Kane. Should a rival club ever trigger his Bayern release clause, Tottenham would have to decide whether to match the bid and hope the 31-year-old preferred a return to north London.

Kane has scored 70 goals in 72 appearances for Bayern and became the fastest player to reach 50 Bundesliga goals in November, beating the previous record held by Erling Haaland. He is also on course to win his first major trophy, with Bayern six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table.

But Kane may eventually feel he has unfinished business in England, where he is 47 goals behind Alan Shearer’s Premier League record, having scored 213 times.

It has been reported by Bild that Bayern have already started to give consideration to eventually losing Kane, and that the club have held discussions over potential moves for RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres.

United must try to lure Kane

The revelation that Harry Kane has a release clause in his contract at Bayern Munich raises the exciting prospect that he might eventually make a return to the Premier League.

It is a no-brainer for an ambitious club, desperately in need of a No 9, to test the water. Step forward Manchester United – who Kane has wanted to join in the past – Newcastle United or, indeed, Chelsea.

We know that Kane, with 213 Premier League goals, is just 47 behind Alan Shearer’s record. Shearer, though, can point out his overall top-flight English record is 283, as he played in the old First Division. Regardless, they are both way behind Jimmy Greaves’s total of 357.

But let us not be pedantic. And remember Erling Haaland has just signed a new 9½ year deal at Manchester City, which might make it all academic, anyway.

Kane would love to break Shearer’s record and what a set of mixed emotions it would be for the latter if he did so wearing Newcastle colours. Newcastle fans will point out there is no vacancy, given they have Alexander Isak in their team and he is regarded as probably the best all-round centre-forward in the league at present. And Newcastle intend to tie the 25-year-old to a new contract this summer.

There is no guarantee that Isak will stay but, certainly, he and Kane could play together.

Given Kane is 31, he does not fit the profile of player who Chelsea have signed of late. But what a difference he would make to their forward line, where questions remain over Nicolas Jackson. Would Kane’s Tottenham Hotspur past make that impossible? Maybe so. But there has been interest before and he would not be moving directly from Tottenham. While we are discussing potentially controversial moves, the other club he would transform would, of course, be Arsenal. But we can discount that one, for sure.

The obvious destination for Kane is Manchester United, where head coach Ruben Amorim has just tried out Kobbie Mainoo as a “false nine” because he does not appear to believe in either Rasmus Hojlund or Joshua Zirkzee.

Should Kane even want to leave Bayern (that is a big if), it would be negligent of United not to test the water especially as, this time, it does not involve having to negotiate with Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman. Levy, it appears, does not want to sell players to the Manchester clubs almost as policy. City found this out when they tried to get Kane in 2021 and he wanted to go there.

United have an even longer fraught history with Levy – the negotiations to sign Dimitar Berbatov, the effort to lure Luka Modric, the failure with Gareth Bale – but a clause with Bayern makes it potentially a much cleaner, easier negotiation if Kane wants it. For United, he would not just be the No 9 they lack, but a leader they also need. They hoped that would happen when they brought Cristiano Ronaldo back, but that ended messily. There has been a vacancy ever since.

I wrote in 2022 that Kane was an ideal fit, that United were a mess, a hotchpotch and needed direction. Little has changed. Back then Kane was keen. Back then a factor was the chance to be that talisman and help restore United to past glories. Again little has changed.

There was also the possibility of reuniting with Mauricio Pochettino, who wanted to be United’s manager. That did not happen and United’s efforts to sign Kane the following summer, when he joined Bayern with just 12 months left on his Spurs contract, also petered out in the knowledge the deal was just too difficult.

But Kane would still be only 32 if he leaves Bayern next year and, by then, he will have hoped to have finally won trophies.

Kane looks after himself. He is in great nick. He has also adapted his game. He can be more of a No 10 if needs be. In a week when Ronaldo is celebrating his 40th birthday, Kane looks like a whippersnapper. Yes, Ronaldo has stepped down to the Saudi Pro League, but he still plays for Portugal.

The problem for United is, can they wait until next year to try for Kane? The answer is no. But the existence of a clause, even if it kicks in next January, could facilitate negotiations if they want to be bold and try to sign him this summer. Especially if Kane is open to the idea.

One of his major targets is to lead England at next year’s World Cup. Kane will not want to go into that tournament with his club future up in the air, or between clubs, so that could also be a factor in trying to secure a deal earlier.

Whatever the timing, it all depends on what Kane wants. Maybe he is happy to stay at Bayern and will sign an extension beyond 2027. He has been a resounding success there, he has scored freely, and there are no suggestions that he is unsettled.

The clause in his contract was probably a safety net, as much as anything else, should the move not work out. It looks like a sensible measure. But the clause is there, the fee is fixed and it is far from daunting. Not, despite his age, and therefore the apparent lack of resale value, for a player of Kane’s ability and profile. Manchester United have wasted so much money in the past decade. This one would not come into that category.