Of all the teams in the top five leagues in Europe last season, Bayern Munich averaged the highest number of shots at goal per game. No other side recorded more than their 18.
Only Manchester City exceeded Bayern’s 92 league goals across the campaign, and because the Premier League is a 20-team competition, and the Bundesliga only 18-strong, Bayern’s 92 goals in 34 outings means they averaged more potency, overall than City, on 94 goals from 38 matches.
Dig down into the statistics and the data analysts at whoscored.com would also inform you that Bayern, with their fleet of wingers, and sprinting crossers from full-back, collectively outdribbled all their elite-division peers, including the Real Madrid of tearaway Vinicius Junior.
There’s more from the 2022-23 statsbank. All those Bayern crosses, when aimed high, could count on reliable targets: they had the best ratio for winning aerial duels of all the clubs across the Bundesliga, Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Liga and French Ligue 1.
Yet this was all clocked up in what, by Bayern’s standards, was a poor, nervous and inconsistent season, where they won the German title – for the 11th time in succession – by an uncharacteristically small margin, and only because, with the taut duel against Borussia Dortmund decided on the last afternoon, Dortmund could only draw, gifting Bayern the crown on goal difference.
Bayern had already sacked head coach Julian Nagelsmann in March. Within minutes of the final whistle being blown on match day 34, they announced the departures of chief executive Oliver Kahn and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic.
All of this weighs on Harry Kane, perhaps the most accomplished all-round centre-forward still active in European football, as Bayern make it ever more clear how much they would like the England captain to be the focus of their attack from the start of the coming season, and to give them fresh leadership.
The lure for Kane, who turns 30 this month, is huge. He is a studious footballer and in his mind’s eye sees the angles, the combinations and the likely success that a clever central striker like him would enjoy with Kingsley Coman, Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry making runs either side of him, from the overlaps created and exploited by the speed of Alphonso Davies, from the spaces expertly conjured up by Thomas Muller’s savvy movement, from the chances made by the precise delivery of Joshua Kimmich.
Tottenham 2022/23 season ratings
TOTTENHAM SEASON RATINGS: Antonio Conte - 5. His 16 months in charge ended in the usual acrimony that is now standard for the abrasive Italian. Blamed the board and the players for below-par performances and results but never himself. Spurs were fourth when he left in March and finished eighth, but even that feels a false position. AFP
Cristian Stellini 2 - Asked to step into the breach when Conte was sacked, fellow Italian Stellini largely used the same personnel and implemented the same tactics that doomed Conte. The nadir was the 6-1 loss to Newcastle, in which Spurs trailed 5-0 at half time. A disastrous four games in charge. AFP
Ryan Mason 4 - Says he wants the manager's job full-time but has shown few signs he is capable of making Spurs top-four challengers again. Would be better served cutting his teeth in the lower leagues for now. PA
Hugo Lloris 2 - A catalogue of errors had many questioning the Frenchman's place in the team even before the horror show against Newcastle. Was replaced at half-time in that match and looks likely to have played his last game for the club. PA
Fraser Forster 5 - Ended the season as first choice due to Lloris' awful form. Is not the long-term solution to Spurs' goalkeeper problems. Getty
Cristian Romero 4 - A raging bull before the World Cup and a headless chicken after it. Clearly an excellent defender but needs to cut out dallying on the ball and wild challenges. EPA
Eric Dier 5 - Like Romero, his form pre-World Cup was excellent and forced him back into England's squad. After that Dier reverted to the inconsistent form that has largely blighted his Tottenham career. EPA
Davinson Sanchez 4 - Evidence of the disconnect between the team and fans was on full display in the defeat against Bournemouth when the Colombian was booed when coming on as a sub and again when he was replaced later in the match. Getty Images
Clement Lenglet 3 - The Frenchman seems to lack positional awareness and is too often reactive instead of proactive. Would be a shock if Spurs tried to make his loan deal from Barcelona permanent. Getty
Ben Davies 6 - Probably Spurs' most dependable performer in a season when the defence proved too brittle. PA
Japhet Tanganga 2 - Made only four Premier League appearances despite Spurs having one of the worst defensive records in the top half of the Premier League. Hard to see a future for him at the club. PA
Emerson Royal 6 - An underwhelming start to the campaign showed encouraging signs as the season progressed. Needs better end product but has the capacity to improve. AFP
Pedro Porro 6 - Fine performances against Spurs in the Champions League prompted the North London club to sign the Spanish right-back in January. Scored a stunner in a 2-2 draw against Manchester United. EPA
Ryan Sessegnon 5 - Looks a fine player until he's asked to do something with the ball. At 23 still has plenty of time to improve and if he can work on supplying more quality into the box can be a real asset. EPA
Ivan Perisic 6 - The veteran Croatian has the quality on the ball Sessegnon lacks. One of Spurs' better performers but at 34 hardly one for the future. PA
Oliver Skipp 5 - An injury-plagued campaign for the young midfielder. Offers bite and tenacity. Getty Images
Yves Bissouma 4 - Another who had a season disrupted by injury but never replicated the form he showed at Brighton in the games he did manage. Spurs fans keen to see the Malian marauder in full flow next term. PA
Rodrigo Bentancur 5 - Spurs missed the Uruguayan's drive and quality after he was ruled out for the season with an ACL injury in February. PA
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg 7 - The Dane added goals and assists to his game and is a rare heartbeat in a team that flatlined too often. PA
Pape Sarr 4 - The Senegalese's shortcomings were exposed against Arsenal and even more ruthlessly against Newcastle - which both ended in drubbings for Spurs. Getty Images
Lucas Moura 3 - The hero of Amsterdam endured a disappointing final season in North London. Sent off against Everton minutes after coming on as a sub and a poor touch that led to Liverpool snatching a dramatic late win were the lowlights. Both results cost Spurs dear in their push for a European spot, though he did leave fans with one more memory with a solo goal in the 4-1 win against Leeds on the final day. PA
Dejan Kulusevski 6 - A fit and firing Kulusevski gets the team up the pitch and causes problems for opposition defenders. Spurs didn't seen enough of either from the Swede this season. Getty
Arnaut Danjuma 4 - The Dutch winger was afforded few opportunities to showcase his talents following a January loan from Villarreal. PA
Son Heung-min 5 - Much was expected from the South Korean this term after finishing joint-top Premier League scorer the previous campaign. His highlight was a 13-minute hat-trick against Leicester after coming on as a sub. PA
Richarlison 4 - Spurs fans questioned whether the £50 million plus to acquire the Brazilian from Everton could have been better spent. On the evidence of his first season in North London, the answer is a resounding 'yes'. Getty
Harry Kane 9 - On a personal level, Kane enjoyed a great season. The England striker broke Jimmy Greaves' long-standing goals record for the club and Kane's 30 Premier League goals came against 25 teams - a record for a 38-game season. Seems unthinkable he will sign a new contract at Spurs and the club must decide whether to cash in on their prized asset this summer or risk losing him for nothing next. PA
“Harry Kane would fit in very well with us,” said Jamal Musiala, the Bayern and Germany attacking midfielder, speaking this week at an awards ceremony where he was honoured for providing more assists last season for Bayern goals than even Muller, Gnabry, Kimmich, Sane, Coman and Davies.
Musiala’s remark followed up on the enthusiasm communicated, privately, to Kane by Thomas Tuchel, Nagelsmann’s successor, and on the back of the series of bids, the latest of over €80 million plus add-ons, by Bayern to Tottenham Hotspur, where Kane has been on the staff throughout his senior career and where he has one year left on his current contract. The offers have so far been rejected by Spurs, who anticipate Bayern increasing their bid to closer to €100 million.
Kane’s loyalty to Spurs, severely tested two summers ago when Manchester City sought to tempt him away, is finite, and Tottenham’s negotiating position with their figurehead player is far more compromised now than then.
He could leave them for free next summer unless they sign him up to a new deal; Spurs cannot offer Champions League football next season; the long wait for any sort of silverware at the club is stretching into a 16th year. Since Spurs won their last trophy, the English League Cup in 2008, Bayern have gone only three seasons without a major prize and have won the Champions League twice.
Thomas Tuchel is determined to take Harry Kane to Bayern Munich. EPA
But proximity to silverware does not guarantee contentment, and the cautionary tale presented to Kane is that of Sadio Mane. When Bayern sought a world-class striker to make up the gap left by Robert Lewandowski last summer – the Pole moved to Barcelona after eight record-breaking seasons as Bayern’s centre-forward – they prised Mane away from Liverpool.
The switch from Premier League to Bundesliga proved anything but smooth. Mane started almost one in three matches on the bench. His patchy year is perhaps most remembered for a fiery and much-publicised confrontation with Sane in the dressing-room that led to an internal suspension.
Bayern’s can be a tough dressing-room to enter. Or to manage. Tuchel is the seventh different appointment as head coach in the seven years since Pep Guardiola left Munich for City. That must be part of Kane’s calculations too.
As Spurs begin their pre-season on Wednesday under a fifth different manager, Ange Postecoglu, in five years, Kane may reflect he is accustomed to such a high turnover. But the difference is that at Spurs he has known for a very long time he is the most important, most valued employee.