Wayne Rooney believes Harry Kane deserves to be viewed as the greatest forward in England s history after the captain became his country s all-time leading goalscorer.
Kane scored his 54th international goal as England began their Euro 2024 qualification campaign with a 2-1 win over Italy on Thursday, the penalty taking him past Rooney s total of 53.
The total for Kane includes a record 12 England goals at major tournaments (World Cup/European Championship), while he overtook Jimmy Greaves to become Tottenham s all-time leading scorer last month.
Writing in The Times on Friday, DC United manager Rooney backed Kane to set a difficult target for future England strikers to reach, comparing his hunger for goals to that of Robert Lewandowski.
When I broke the England goalscoring record with a penalty against Switzerland in September 2015, Harry Kane was the first player to run over and celebrate with me, Rooney wrote.
Even then, with only four caps under his belt, I knew he could become England’s greatest scorer if he kept going the way he was and I wanted to give him encouragement.
I believe that when he stops playing he will leave the England record in a place where it will be very difficult for someone else to break it.
He wants to be like Poland s Robert Lewandowski, a goal machine who is still at the very top in his mid-thirties, and he has it in him to make that happen. I think Harry will finish with an England goals total well into the seventies.
Rooney also compared Kane s playing style to that of Roma legend Francesco Totti, approving his talent for delivering passes to unlock defences.
While Kane is yet to inspire Gareth Southgate s team to major tournament glory, Rooney believes the 29-year-old already has a more impressive legacy than any other England forward.
Where does he stand among England strikers? He is probably the best, Rooney added. I was not an out-and-out number nine and if you look at the great England strikers – Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, Jimmy Greaves, Michael Owen – Harry is as good a scorer as any of them and just as relentless, but unlike them he is not only a finisher.
His all-round football qualities make him the best, and that is not just what he does in an England shirt, but at club level. He will break Shearer s Premier League goals record if he stays fit.
