At 32, we may have seen the last of Harry Kane leading the line for England at the World Cup.
Currently, there is no obvious solution as to who will eventually replace him as the nation’s striker.
The only English strikers who will be under 30 by the next Euros and have played in a top league are Liam Delap, Dane Scarlett and former Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah.
That’s very damning. Folarin Balogun may well have been the one that got away.
Could Folarin Balogun end up being Arsenal’s biggest transfer mistake in recent times?
However, Paul Scholes has pointed towards an unlikely candidate.
On the latest episode of The Good, The Bad and The Football, he was asked who could eventually replace Kane.
“We’ll find something. We have people like Max Dowman,” Scholes answered. “I know Max Dowman isn’t a centre-forward but he will be around for the next tournament, people like that.
“Look at Spain — Spain play without a striker, he’s not a striker really (Oyarzabal), he’s more of a false nine.”
Max Dowman being England’s ‘false nine’ is not as outlandish as it sounds
As Scholes points out, Dowman isn’t a centre-forward, but neither, really, is Mikel Oyarzabal, who has scored five goals in the World Cup helping Spain reach the final, operating as a kind of creative ‘false nine’.
With Jude Bellingham as a second striker crashing the box, England could field a front two of incredibly gifted technical quality without a traditional number nine at all.
Dowman, who became the Premier League’s youngest ever goalscorer last season against Everton, has already been described as an “outstanding talent” by Thomas Tuchel.
How many Premier League goals will Max Dowman score before he’s 20? 😳
Exceptional.
The World Cup came too early for him, but by the time the next Euros arrive, he will be 18. And 20 for the following World Cup.
By then, he should have established himself as a genuine first-team regular at Arsenal.
And it’s not as if it’s unprecedented to be involved on the international stage at such a young age.
Wayne Rooney burst onto the England scene at Euro 2004 aged 18. Jude Bellingham was a regular at Euro 2020 at 17. Lamine Yamal dominated Euro 2024 at 16.
Dowman, if his development continues on its current trajectory, could well be England’s next generational player.
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