England boss Thomas Tuchel says it will be impossible to find “another Harry Kane” as the free-scoring leader continues to break new ground.
Kane’s comment capped the Lions’ 87-goal stretch against State on Tuesday.
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And now he is just two appearances away from Peter Shilton’s mark of 125 international appearances, as he is England’s most capped player ever.
However, while the 33-year-old Bayern Munich has been in the form of his career, with 73 goals for club and country last term, he cannot continue to be well in the conversation as a possible Ballon d’Or winner, and Tuchel admitted that there is no obvious successor.
“You don’t get Harry Kane first of all,” said Tuchel.
“He is the first one who pushed everyone and that is his mindset and he has become very hardworking at the top end of the skill. He is the complete package.
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“We are waiting for different options and solutions. We have finished the game with Judas [Bellingham] the number nine in front.
“There will be another, but it won’t be Harry or a copy of Harry. We’ll find a solution when it comes but maybe it won’t be me. The other one would be in 10 years.”
Kane is one of the leading strikers of his generation, but getting a fit full-back has been a long-standing problem for England.
Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney have used this role in the past two major tournaments, but the Saudi-based pair are also in their thirties and have been overlooked for the current Nations League fixture.
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While Dominic Calvert-Lewin is in the squad, he is also approaching his 30th birthday and Liam Delap is now the only English center under the age of 27 to have scored a goal for the League managers.
And that means Tuchel has supplemented Prague’s excellent options by deploying Real Madrid star Bellingham in a more advanced role than the normal central position after Kane brought him on.
“Like nine for him,” added Tuchel. “Then he can contribute to both sides and load the sides and it doesn’t affect the balance so much.
“We found a new role for him in the last match, as a central 10, so he can go either way and it’s more 4-2-3-1 than 4-3-3 to have Harry and Jude closer to each other and give them a chance to load on both sides. We’re working on that.
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“He’s a natural metascorer and he’s hungry to get on the scoreboard. He wants to be there and have a decisive action, so it doesn’t make a big difference if he plays as nine or 10.”