Former England forward Emile Heskey has voiced concern over the national team’s diminishing pool of traditional centre-forwards, arguing that the long-standing succession of clear-cut number nines has all but dried up.
With Harry Kane the only natural striker named in Thomas Tuchel’s 25-man squad for this week’s World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania, the issue has been thrust back into the spotlight. While some forwards are absent due to injury or squad rotation, England’s dependence on the 32-year-old Bayern Munich striker remains unmistakable.
Heskey, who earned 62 England caps between 1999 and 2010, reflected on a time when the pathway of elite English strikers felt predictable and continuous. That, he believes, is no longer the case.
“We always had that chain — Shearer, then myself, then Rooney — but where do we look now?” “We’re struggling to find the next one,” he said on The Wayne Rooney Show.
The data underscores his concern: only eight English strikers have featured in the Premier League this season, and Chelsea’s Liam Delap, at 22, is the only one under the age of 26.
Ollie Watkins impressed as Kane’s understudy at Euro 2024, scoring a key semi-final goal, but he has been left out of the current squad to manage a fitness issue. For Rooney, this presents an opportunity to preserve Kane ahead of the World Cup.
“We know what Kane can do. He shouldn’t play for England again until the World Cup,” Rooney argued, citing fixture overload.
Both Rooney and Heskey attribute the scarcity of emerging number nines to a wider tactical evolution in global football. Modern systems, they argue, have shifted emphasis away from traditional target men.
Rooney noted the worldwide trend:
“Teams don’t want to play with classic number nines anymore. If you look globally, there aren’t many. Everyone wants to be a Salah or a Messi.”
He added that playing centrally now demands extreme efficiency, comparable to stars like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé, while even Kane functions more as a hybrid forward than a pure striker.
Heskey, whose sons Reigan and Jaden both debuted for Manchester City in September’s Carabao Cup tie, says the role of a centre-forward has changed dramatically since his playing days.
“We had to chase into channels, win flick-ons, stay constantly involved,” he said. “Now the number eights do more, wingers stay wide — forwards don’t need to be as involved.”
As England edge closer to another major tournament, the debate around their long-term striker pipeline is likely to intensify, with Kane’s irreplaceability growing ever more stark.
