Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Harry Kane is on the verge of signing for Bayern Munich and has affirmed that the Lilywhites will move forward without the England captain.
Following a protracted transfer saga and multiple failed bids, Bayern finally satisfied Daniel Levy's financial demands with a club-record fee - worth a reported £100m and potentially rising to £120m - for the 30-year-old.
There was some uncertainty whether Kane would end up agreeing to Bayern's contract proposal, as the striker wanted his future to be resolved before Spurs' Premier League opener against Brentford on Sunday.
Spurs were also said to be holding up Kane's flight to Munich due to a slight hitch with the agreement, but the marksman is now set to travel to Germany in order to undergo his medical and agree a four-year deal.
Postecoglou's press conference on Friday afternoon was inevitably dominated by questions about Kane's transfer, and the Australian conceded that the 30-year-old was Bayern-bound as he prepares to end his illustrious individual career in North London.
"I don't have a blow by blow account of the whole thing but my understanding is it has progressed to the point where it looks like it will happen," football.london quotes Postecoglou as saying.
"That's all the information I have at the moment. From that perspective at least it gives us some clarity unless anything unforeseen happens and we move forward without Harry.
"The information I have at the moment is the deal is imminent but like with all these things, until it happens you leave yourself some leeway but for the most part moving forward and certainly with training today and preparing for Brentford, we are doing it without Harry."
Kane and Postecoglou met face-to-face following the latter's appointment as head coach earlier in the summer, and the England captain wore the armband for Spurs during a few of their summer friendlies.
The 30-year-old scored four times in a 5-1 thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk last weekend - which will likely prove to be his final home match in Spurs colours - and Postecoglou has admitted that he did not see the point in trying to convince Kane to stay on.
"I had a conversation with Harry the first day arrived and he was up front and honest, and I was the same. You kind of get an indication there that he kind of made up his mind that if the clubs agreed he would go, particularly if it was before the first game. That was my preference as well," Postecoglou added.
"I didn't see the point [in trying to convince him to stay]. Whatever I was going to say was going to be irrelevant to what he felt. I could give this grand vision, but I'm sure he's heard it all before.
"It's how people feel and what they see and perceive in how the group works. My feeling was, we'll get to know each other over the next month, and that's the best way to navigate this early bit of our relationship as manager and player.
"It's not like he was forcing it on me, he was very professional about it and I tried to treat him with the respect that someone of his standing deserved."
Kane will end his 19-year association with Tottenham having scored a club-record 280 goals in 435 matches for the Lilywhites, but he has never won a major team trophy in North London.
The Englishman is snubbing interest from Paris Saint-Germain to join Thomas Tuchel's side, as well as putting his pursuit of Alan Shearer's Premier League goalscoring record on ice for the next four years at least. body check tags ::
