Kane to start for Bayern vs Bremen | Tuchel: He’s had an immediate effect

Harry Kane has had an “immediate effect” on Bayern Munich’s changing-room atmosphere and is expected to make his first start for the German champions against Werder Bremen, live on Sky Sports on Friday.

The England captain completed his £100m move and made his debut on Saturday, coming off the bench in his side’s 3-0 German Super Cup defeat to RB Leipzig – hours after being announced as a Bayern player.

Kane indicated on Sunday that he might need time to adapt to his new club after 19 years at Tottenham. Tuchel, who was critical of his squad after the match, confirmed the striker would start Friday’s fixture.

He told a press conference: “I don’t think it is going to be the first time in his career (he has been under pressure), so that is why he will learn to transfer the pressure into performance and stay relaxed.

“My first impressions of Harry are fantastic. He is a top professional, the quality is outstanding and he’s a fantastic human being, he is very open, he’s first on the training pitch, he is open in the dressing room.

“I think he has immediate effect in the dressing room with his personality, with his approach to football, his love for the game, you feel it every day. You feel it in every little exercise.

“It is not about life or death. It is a game, a competitive game and he has proved for about 10 years how he does it, so I am not worried about Harry.

“The Harry Kane effect will not be gone (if we lose). It is the way he works in training, in the locker room, his professionalism, the way he goes about things and how humble he is in training, how keen he is in training.

“The way he acts after such a game, after a loss, he is the first on the training pitch, he works with the reserve players, he is the one walking ahead who is inspiring others. That is what makes that transfer fee (worthwhile), not only his goal-scoring record but all the other things as well.

“That is what really makes him a big star and all the other personalities in sport as well, so that is the Harry Kane effect and why he raises our chances of winning tomorrow massively.

“Obviously we won’t win every game just because he is there and, even when the Harry Kane effect is there in full effect, it still doesn’t mean we’ll win every game, but that is why I was fighting for him to come here. As far as all the things I have seen, I really feel that it was worth it.”

Tuchel faced repeated questions on Thursday about the public dressing down of his players in the wake of their defeat to Leipzig.

He called on the squad to learn from Kane and his attitude after a tumultuous five months since his March appointment, with Tuchel losing more games than predecessor Julian Nagelsmann last season.

“I understand this criticism was received as tough criticism, but I was honest. I was talking about the way I feel and my disappointment was really big,” Tuchel said.

“After losing 3-0 it doesn’t matter what I say ,because it would go in all directions anyway. I don’t know what to say in order to please everybody and I don’t know whether I want that.

“I try to be authentic and that is what I was. Maybe it wasn’t the most diplomatic way to go about things, but if I tried to be diplomatic people would have asked, ‘Was he at the right game?’

“I take it personally losing. I wish we all go about things this way and be more resilient.”

Tuchel will soon be boosted by the return of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who recently had a second operation after suffering a broken leg while skiing last December.

Thomas Muller and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting will be part of Friday’s squad, but Bouna Sarr, Noussair Mazraoui and Serge Gnabry will need to be checked on.

Tuchel added: “The small operation performed on Manuel worked and the prognosis is he will be back in (team) training in a shorter period of time than we thought so it is generally positive.

“The past couple of days I saw him in training and I am not a rehab expert, but what I saw was really impressive and looked really good.

“I think he will be back in team training in the next couple of weeks.”

‘If team win, individual awards will look after themselves’

Kane is fully focused on helping Bayern have a successful season and if he can help his new side achieve that, and potentially help England win next summer’s European Champions, individual honours like the Ballon d’Or could follow.

When asked about individual honours, he said: “If you are winning your league and winning the Champions League, and obviously we have the European Championships next summer as well, and as we’ve seen with the Ballon d’Or you have to be winning team trophies to achieve that.

“If I’m scoring goals and we are winning trophies then of course that will come into question, but it is not really what my focus is on right now.”

And when Kane looks back on his career what would constitute success, honours for club and country?

He said: “It’s hard to put a number on how many trophies you want to win but I have always said throughout my whole career I never want to retire and feel like I could have done more or I could have pushed myself a little bit more.

“That was a big part of the decision-making process of coming to Bayern Munich because to improve and to get better I had to be playing at the highest level.

“Of course, I want to win every competition I play in. That is the ultimate goal every season but when you finish your career, whenever that may be, you just want to make sure you’ve pushed yourself to your limits and that is what I’ll continue to do.”

Watch Harry Kane’s Bundesliga debut on Sky Sports! Werder Bremen vs Bayern Munich live on Sky Sports Football from 7.20pm on Friday; kick-off 7.30pm.

Bayern’s struggles on Kane’s debut highlight pressure he will face

When Harry Kane finally left Tottenham, 4369 days had passed since his debut, every one of them without a trophy. The expectation was that he would break that cycle on day one at Bayern Munich. Instead, schadenfreude visited the new signing.

Dani Olmo’s hat-trick stunned the expectant Bayern supporters inside the Allianz Arena as RB Leipzig won the Supercup – and there was nothing that Kane could do to prevent it. Two down when he came on. Three down before he had touched the ball.

When Bayern had talked of making him feel at home, this is not what Kane would have had in mind. He chased around but with little reward. Thomas Tuchel even apologised to his new signing afterwards for his team-mates’ inability to find him with their passes.

Kane is accustomed to carrying the weight of a club’s expectations, of course. But at Spurs he was one of their own – loved long before those expectations were placed on his shoulders. At 30, there are one hundred million reasons why he must deliver here.

Read more from Adam Bate in conversation with Mario Gomez and Phillip Lahm Here

Watch Bayern Munich live on Sky Sports!

Harry Kane is set to make his first start for Bayern Munich when the German champions start the defence of their Bundesliga title away at Werder Bremen on Friday night – and you can watch the game live on Sky Sports Action from 7.20pm on August 18 – kick-off 7.30pm.

Bayern then face a home fixture against Augsburg, live on Sky Sports Football on August 27, kick-off 4.30pm. Stream the Bundesliga and more on Sky Sports with NOW for £26 a month for 12 months.