Kane arrives in Stavanger on Monday as one of the two leading contenders for the 2026 Ballon d’Or, 14 years after a Viking FK scout flew to London on a very different mission.
Gary Goodchild, then a scout at the Norwegian club, has told Goal that Viking tried to arrange a loan deal for Kane in 2012, when the Tottenham academy striker was still an unknown teenager being shipped around on short-term moves.
“I was told he might be interested in coming to Viking,” Goodchild said.
“The people I spoke to felt that a loan move to Scandinavia could do him good.”
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The scouting trip that fell through
Goodchild travelled to England to watch Kane in person. By then the striker had already been on loan at Leyton Orient and was in the middle of his spell at Millwall, where Tottenham had sent him for Championship minutes.
An injury kept Kane off the pitch during the window Goodchild was in England, and the scout could not file a proper assessment. By the time Viking tried to pick the thread back up, Spurs had other plans.
“Not long afterwards, he was in the first team at Spurs, and the rest is history,” Goodchild said.
Kane went on to score more than 280 goals for Tottenham across all competitions before his 2023 move to Munich. The Norwegian loan never came close to being formalised.
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From unknown to Ballon d’Or contender
The player landing in Stavanger on Monday evening is a very different proposition. Kane has scored 152 goals in 154 appearances for Bayern since his transfer in 2023.
He is also two weeks away from a verdict on his individual legacy. The Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place in London on 26 October to mark the 70th anniversary of the award. According to Racing Post, Kane has drifted out to 6/4 following a major gamble on Lamine Yamal, who has now overtaken him as the bookmakers’ favourite.
No Englishman has won the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001.
Lyse Arena, Tuesday, 21:00
Viking qualified for the league phase of the Champions League after knocking out Dinamo Zagreb 5-3 on aggregate in the play-off round and now host Bayern in their first home tie of the campaign. Bayern opened their campaign with a 5-0 win over Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt and arrive in Stavanger as heavy favourites.
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Kick-off at the Lyse Arena is at 21:00 local time on Tuesday, 13 October.
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