‘The next one up’: Ledley King says Harry Kane’s replacement may be playing for Arsenal right now

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Tottenham have found out this summer how difficult it is to replace Harry Kane, and in a few years’ time, England may have the same quandary.

The Three Lions’ captain is now in his 30s, and, historically, players start to think about winding down their international careers at this point.

England were very lucky in that Kane came through just as Wayne Rooney was making way as the nation’s starting striker, but, in all honesty, the succession plan post-Kane isn’t all that clear.

However, speaking on the BBC Radio Five Live Football Daily Podcast, Ledley King has tipped Eddie Nketiah to be the next striker up to replace Kane in this England team.

Nketiah could replace Kane

King gave his verdict on Nketiah.

“It’s a difficult position because Harry Kane is the captain and it’s near impossible to dislodge him, but can you be the next one? He’s not old, but he’s into his 30s now. Maybe Harry could drop into the 10 eventually and Nketiah could be the next one up to play up top. He’s different to other strikers, he’s cat-like, Ian Wright as you mentioned and Jermain Defoe is another one he reminds me of. It will be interesting to see how his career develops over the next couple of years,” King said.

Has to improve

As much as we like Eddie Nketiah as a player, it has to be said that he needs to improve if he’s going to be this Kane replacement one day.

The striker is already 24 years old and he doesn’t have a single senior England cap to his name – by this point the likes of Rooney and Kane were already well on their way to breaking goalscoring records for the Three Lions.

That isn’t to say that it’s impossible for Nketiah to make his mark – we’ve seen later bloomers at international level plenty of times, but he does need to have a sharp upturn if he is going to eventually settle into this role.