Tuchel says England will never find another Harry Kane

Tuchel admits no like-for-like replacement for Kane

England boss Thomas Tuchel has said it will be impossible for the Three Lions to find "another Harry Kane" as the captain continues to break new ground for England.

Kane scored a record-extending 87th goal for England against the Czech Republic on Tuesday and is now just two appearances away from equalling Peter Shilton’s mark of 125 international caps.

The 33-year-old Bayern Munich forward is in the form of his life. Tuchel pointed to 73 goals for club and country last term as evidence the striker remains in the Ballon d’Or conversation.

"You will not get another Harry Kane, first of all," Tuchel said. "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."

No copy, different solution needed

Tuchel said England are looking for different options rather than a direct replacement.

"We look for different options and solutions. We finished the game with Jude [Bellingham] up front as a number nine," he added. "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."

Finding a suitable back-up has long been a problem for England. Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney utilised the role at the past two major tournaments but the Saudi Arabia-based pair are also in their thirties and were overlooked for the current Nations League fixtures.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is in the squad but is also approaching his 30th birthday, while Liam Delap is currently the only English centre forward under the age of 27 to have scored a Champions League goal.

Bellingham experiment

To supplement his striking options in Prague, Tuchel deployed Real Madrid star Bellingham in a more advanced role after bringing him on for Kane.

"I like him as a nine," Tuchel added. "Then he can contribute to both sides and overload the sides and doesn't affect so much of the balance."

Tuchel said England have been working on a system that allows Kane and Bellingham to play closer together.

"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."

"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," Tuchel said of Bellingham.