Harry Kane wins German footballer of the year after a stunning season with Bayern Munich
Strong support from the voters
Voters picked Kane after a massive season 2025-26 on the pitch. The Bayern forward netted 61 goals across every competition last season. That total includes a sharp hat-trick during the German Cup final that crushed the opponent and secured the trophy for his club. He also helped Bayern defend their Bundesliga crown and push all the way to the Champions League semi-finals before falling just short after being defeated by Paris Saint-Germain, who went on to become the champions.
Kane pulled in 272 votes from the 695 active voters, surpassing Olise, who garnered 203 votes, and became the first Englishman to win the award. Kicker reported that VfB Stuttgart forward Deniz Undav received 61 votes, while Bayern's Joshua Kimmich and Hoffenheim's goalkeeper Oliver Baumann received 21 and 14 votes, respectively.
The praise from club officials
The Bayern sporting director Max Eberl spoke about the striker's impact for the team in an official club statement. Eberl admitted he ran out of words to praise the star forward. Eberl noted that finding the right words to describe the forward proves nearly impossible because of his constant high level of skill.
"It's almost impossible to find the right superlatives to describe Harry Kane – sometimes I'm at a loss for words," Eberl said in a statement. "He's already been named England's Footballer of the Year, and now he's also won it in Germany."
Bayern added two award
Success touched the entire club during the campaign. Bayern boss Vincent Kompany took home the coach of the year award. Kompany grabbed nearly half of all votes from the media panel. He beat out Freiburg coach Julian Schuster to secure the honor. Bayern right-back Giulia Gwinn also won the top prize for female players as well.
The player of the year award has been presented since 1960, while the coach's award has been given since 2002. Franz Beckenbauer holds the record for the most player awards with four, while Jurgen Klopp and Felix Magath have each won the coach's award three times.
What comes next?
Kane kept his form going into the new campaign. He helped Bayern win the domestic Supercup on Saturday as they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1. Even though Kane did not score in that specific game, his leadership drove the team forward. Kane's impressive performance has led pundits to consider him a top contender for the Ballon d'Or. The prestigious individual awards ceremony will be held in London on October 26.
