Harry Kane, now a star for Bayern Munich and the English national team, could have worn the Viking Stavanger shirt in an era when his career was still in the construction phase. In 2012, when the young striker was still being discovered, the Norwegian club could have made an offer for him, but the transfer did not materialize.
According to Viking scout Gary Goodchild, the proposal arose when the club was looking to strengthen its attack. “I was told that they might be interested in him,” Goodchild told the Stavanger Aftenblad newspaper. At the time Kane was an unknown name to the general public, still waiting to establish himself at Tottenham and on loan to clubs such as Leyton Orient, FC Millwall and Norwich, before arriving at Leicester. Goodchild explained that “the people I spoke to had a feeling that a loan in Scandinavia could be beneficial for the young man” and decided to travel to England to evaluate the talent in person.
During the visit, Kane was already on loan at Millwall, but had to miss the match due to injury. Goodchild then returned home with a wealth of information on the young striker, but without any concrete proposal from Viking. “Shortly afterwards he broke into the first team at Spurs and the rest is history,” concluded Goodchild.
Despite initial interest, Viking failed to close the deal and Kane continued his rise in England, before moving to Bayern Munich. Today, almost a decade later, the player plays in the Champions League with the German club, but his career had a different start than one could have imagined.
Kane's case demonstrates how transfer decisions can change the course of a career. If Viking Stavanger had concluded the deal, the history of European football could have taken a completely different turn. For now, the reality is that the English striker continues to shine at Bayern, but the memory of that forgotten proposal remains a curious "what if" in his biography.