Harry Kane in a Viking Stavanger shirt? What seems unthinkable today was once apparently well within the realms of possibility.
In 2012, Viking were reportedly offered the chance to sign England's future record goalscorer and Bayern Munich's dependable goalscorer. The move fell through in curious circumstances. Former Viking scout Gary Goodchild told the story ahead of his former club's Champions League clash with the German record champions on Tuesday (21.00/Prime Video).
Recalling events more than 14 years ago, Goodchild told the newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad: "I was told he might be interested in coming to Viking." At the time, "nobody" knew Kane. He was still waiting for his breakthrough at Tottenham Hotspur and had gone out on loan repeatedly, to Leyton Orient, FC Millwall, and later Norwich and Leicester City.
"The people I spoke to," Goodchild said, "felt that a loan move to Scandinavia could do him good." He travelled to England to watch Kane, then playing up front for Millwall, but the striker missed the match through injury. Goodchild left none the wiser.
Goodchild recalled Kane's next step: "Not long afterwards, he was in the first team" at Spurs, "and the rest is history." On Tuesday, more than a decade later than he might have done, Kane will finally play in Stavanger in a Bayern Munich shirt.