Harry Kane has made an explosive impact in Germany this season. The striker continues to break records and score at will for Bayern Munich.
The 32-year-old has already hit 17 goals in nine games for the German champions. His finishing looks ruthless, and defenders struggle to contain him.
Kane also became the fastest player this century to reach 100 goals for a club in Europe’s top five leagues. He needed just 104 games, beating the previous mark of Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland, who both required 105.
This start raises the question: how does Kane’s record compare to the greats of the game?
Kane versus Messi, Ronaldo and Lewandowski
Kane outperforms Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski when it comes to early-season scoring. His numbers place him among the most dangerous strikers in history.
Only Erling Haaland, in his RB Salzburg days, matched Kane’s 17 goals after nine games. Ronaldo scored 13 for Real Madrid at the start of the 2014-15 campaign. Messi’s best after nine matches came with 12, achieved in 2011-12 and again in 2017-18.
Lewandowski netted 13 in nine games during the 2021-22 season for Bayern. Haaland hit 17 in nine for Salzburg in 2019-20, but that was outside Europe’s top five leagues.
Kane joins exclusive company on scoring runs
Few players in modern football have sustained such scoring bursts. Kane’s current run has only been surpassed by Messi and Ronaldo.
Ronaldo enjoyed his best nine-game stretch in April 2018 with 18 goals for Real Madrid. Messi matched that tally in March 2012 for Barcelona.
Haaland has twice equalled Kane’s 17. He managed it first in September 2019 for Salzburg and again with Manchester City in October 2022. Lewandowski also went close with 16 in nine games across 2021.
Kane’s Champions League record
Kane scored twice in Bayern’s recent Champions League demolition of Pafos. He came close to lifting the trophy in 2019, when Tottenham lost the final to Liverpool.
His record in Europe’s elite competition remains exceptional. Only seven players with at least 10 goals have a better strike rate than him.
In 59 matches, Kane has scored 44 times. That gives him an average of 0.75 goals per game. Ronaldo stands at 0.77 with 140 in 183 games. Messi reached 129 in 163 games, which equals 0.79. Haaland sits alone at the top with 50 in 49 matches, averaging 1.02 per game.
Kane’s career journey and transformation
Kane’s career started more slowly than the meteoric rises of Messi, Ronaldo and Haaland. He learned the game during loan spells at Norwich, Leicester, Leyton Orient and Millwall before making his name at Tottenham.
For Spurs, the striker played 435 times and scored 280 goals. He was also closing in on Alan Shearer’s Premier League record before making the move abroad.
Since joining Bayern, Kane has reached new heights. He became the fastest player to 70 Bundesliga goals, achieving the feat in only 67 matches. No one else in German football history managed that speed.
England’s all-time leading scorer now averages a goal every 79 minutes in the Bundesliga. His hunger for records shows no sign of slowing.
