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<\/p>\nHarry Kane during a gym session at St George\u2019s Park on Tuesday<\/p>\n
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Harry Kane doesn\u2019t drink. He enjoyed Bayern Munich\u2019s annual trip to Oktoberfest in full lederhosen and ate a giant pretzel, but his jug of beer was barely touched. At the luxurious hotel where he lives, meals are meticulously prepared by his chef: breakfast is an omelette or yoghurt and granola; lunch and dinner consists of salad and vegetables topped off by a rotating carousel of white fish, chicken or beef \u2013 salmon is a treat.<\/p>\n
He lives away from his wife and children, in a country where he does not speak the language, in a city he cannot enjoy without being mobbed. His family will eventually move over once they find a house, but for now it is a mostly solitary, unremitting existence: eat, sleep, play, recover, repeat. Kane\u2019s is hardly the life of a monk, but when children dream of becoming England captain, they probably don\u2019t picture this.<\/p>\n
This, though, is sometimes the life of an elite footballer. Kane has climbed to the top of the game, and he loves it here. He is dedicated to being the perfect athlete because he doesn\u2019t want to stop. So when he says his career is only at half-time, aged 30, it is not just bluster but serious intent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe perception in sport is you hit 30 and people start to think that\u2019s the end,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the way I\u2019m looking at it is that I almost have the second half of my career [to come]. I\u2019ve had nine or 10 years at the highest level and I\u2019m hoping for another eight or nine years at the highest level again.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Kane speaks to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the successful bid for Euro 2028<\/p>\n
That might sound optimistic, but then Kane\u2019s ouput remains broadly on an upwards trend. Perhaps his best years are still to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is definitely room for improvement. When you look at a lot of the top-level players \u2013 Ronaldo, Messi, Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic \u2013 they have almost got better as they hit 30. In a lot of sports that happens. Everything is maybe settled in your personal life, you are comfortable with your body, you are comfortable mentally and that just allows you to focus on football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kane is sitting in a colourful side room at St George\u2019s Park, where he is on England duty ahead of Friday\u2019s friendly with Australia and a Euros qualifier against Italy next week. England teammates have been asking about life at Bayern, where Kane has made a fast start: nine goals and four assists in nine games. The manager Thomas Tuchel has come under scrutiny after one or two disjointed performances, with Bayern third in the table \u2013 Tottenham, ironically, are top of the Premier League. But Kane has impressed in these early weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of other stuff that goes into a transfer \u2013 the personal stuff, trying to find houses, living in hotels, not having my family with me,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s all stuff I\u2019m not used to. So to be able to have started the way I have, I\u2019m really proud. I could have scored a few more goals, I\u2019ve had quite a few chances. But if you\u2019d have told me before the transfer this is what I\u2019d be on, the amount of goals and assists and wins, I\u2019d have taken that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Kane scored a hat-trick and got two assists in Munich\u2019s romp over Bochum (Sven Hoope\/AP)<\/p>\n
Football in Germany is well suited to longevity, with a winter break each season and one less cup competition to contend with than English football. Many players consider retirement from international duty to prolong their club careers, but in that sense it is almost the opposite with Kane. \u201cI will probably keep [playing for England] until I\u2019m not picked anymore, and then accept that and take it on the chin,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Might he lead England into a home Euros in 2028? \u201cWho knows? Hopefully, I\u2019m aiming to still be around by then. I feel as good as I\u2019ve ever felt before and I\u2019d like to think my career will go to my late thirties, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kane is a friend and admirer of Tom Brady, the oldest player to win the NFL\u2019s MVP award, aged 40. As a teenager struggling on loan at Leicester City, Kane sat alone in a rented flat wondering how he was ever going to make it at Spurs when he couldn\u2019t even get a game in the Championship. There he came across a documentary about Brady on YouTube, charting the quarterback\u2019s rise from obscurity, and he felt inspired to chase his own dream.<\/p>\n
A decade on, Kane is back where it all started, spending plenty of time alone again, albeit in slightly smarter accommodation. It is a symptom of his utter determination to stay at the top of the game, and to prove he belongs. And perhaps what captures Kane\u2019s unique mindset, what marks him out as one of England\u2019s greatest ever footballers, is that he is never finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely think there are levels [to reach],\u201d he says. \u201cBeing at Bayern Munich now, I can keep pushing myself to see how good I can get.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Kane, the second half has only just begun.<\/p>\n