Despite hurting his ankle in Saturday’s victory against Darmstadt, Harry Kane will be a part of the England group.
The England captain, with a twisted ankle, almost sent Gareth Southgate reeling, as he left the pitch late in the 5-2 victory.
Despite scoring this weekend, the manager replaced him in the 88th minute because he collided with the goalpost while reaching for the ball.
Thomas Tuchel, the Bayern coach, had no idea how bad Kane‘s injury was until after the game. On the other hand, he hoped the former Spurs man didn’t suffer a serious injury.
“He [Kane] twisted his ankle in the goal net. He has now completely cooled it with ice. We don’t have a diagnosis yet. We have to wait and see and hope that it remains a shock moment. When Harry goes off it’s never a good sign because Harry never goes off when there’s still goals to score”, he said.
Sporting Director Christoph Freund also noted: “We hope it’s not so bad. He was subbed off as a precaution. He will be looked at in England, he has trusted doctors there. We are in close coordination on this. Harry won’t take any risks.”
As confirmed by Bayern, Kane will now join his national squad during the next international break. The Three Lions are getting ready for two friendly matches, one against Brazil and the other against Belgium.
Nevertheless, the medical staff will attend to the striker. Thus, it is uncertain whether he will be able to suit up for either of his country’s games this month.
“Harry Kane suffered a left ankle injury during FC Bayern’s 5-2 win in Darmstadt. The striker nevertheless traveled to the English national team and is being treated by the team doctors there – in close consultation with the FC Bayern medical department,” the club said in a statement.
With his strike against Darmstadt, Kane brought his league goal count to 31, breaking the previous record for most goals in a Bundesliga debut season. With this achievement, he has surpassed the record established by Uwe Seeler (30) for Hamburg in 1963-64.
Ankle problems have plagued Kane for a long time, which is concerning for Bayern and England. This is the eighth time this has happened to him since the 2016-17 season began; his most recent setback was during the 2022 World Cup.
The England team’s all-time top scorer took a tumble during their first match against Iran in the group round.
Fortunately, his problem was minor, and he recovered quickly enough to participate in every game for his country in the tournament.
At this point, Southgate is crossing his fingers that his best player is fully healthy at this stage. The first 2024 match for Gareth Southgate’s squad will be on March 23 against Brazil at Wembley. Just three days later, on March 24, the same English metropolis will play home to another exhibition match against Belgium.
Meanwhile, if Bayern want to keep defending their Bundesliga championship and aim for the UEFA Champions League, they also need Kane to be healthy.
Photo credit: IMAGO / Jan Huebner
