Thomas Tuchel says England are unlikely to produce another striker capable of matching Harry Kane’s goalscoring record and all-round contribution.
Kane is two appearances away from drawing level with Peter Shilton as England’s most-capped player. The Bayern Munich forward has won 123 caps so far and has scored 87 goals, making him the Three Lions’ record goalscorer.
The 33-year-old has found the net twice in England’s past two matches, although he missed a penalty during last Saturday’s 3-2 defeat by world champions Spain.
Kane scored 73 goals for club and country last season, and Tuchel believes a player of comparable quality is unlikely to emerge in the near future.
“The highest level of goalscorer, of finishing,” Tuchel said of Kane.
“He is the first one to push everyone and that is his mindset and he became a very, very hardworking forward on top of his finishing skills. He is a complete package.”
Tuchel was asked who might succeed Kane when the Bayern Munich forward eventually ends his international career.
“You will not get another Harry Kane, first of all,” he said.
“We look for different options and solutions. We finished the game with Jude [Bellingham] up front as a number nine.
“There will be someone else, but it will not be Harry or a copy of Harry. We will find a solution when it comes to it but maybe not me. It might be another 10 years.”
One potential alternative is Jude Bellingham, who has scored eight times for England at the World Cup.
Tuchel used Bellingham in a more central role during the most recent match and believes the Real Madrid midfielder can offer England an attacking option either as a number nine or a number 10.
“I like him as a nine,” Tuchel said. “Then he can contribute to both sides and overload the sides and doesn’t affect so much of the balance.
“We found a bit of a new role for him in the last match, as a central 10, so he can go to both sides and it is more of a 4-2-3-1 than a 4-3-3 to have Harry and Jude closer together and to give them a chance to overload both sides. We are working on that.”
Bellingham’s ability to arrive in the penalty area remains an important part of Tuchel’s thinking, regardless of where he starts.
“Jude in general should always be able to go through the last line and should always be able to end up in the box,” Tuchel added.
“He is a natural goalscorer and he has the hunger to be on the scoreboard. He wants to be there and have the decisive action, so it makes not a huge difference if he plays as a nine or a 10.”
