Ollie Watkins and England Face a 33-Year Harry Kane Gap
ollie watkins sits inside a wider problem for England: Stan Collymore says no obvious heir to Harry Kane is emerging through the domestic system. Kane still leads the line, but he will soon turn 33, and England are looking at a shortage that reaches beyond one player.
Collymore’s point is blunt. He said most teams have used a front three for the last 15 to 20 years, while nobody wants the responsibility of playing as a striker. That leaves England short of a natural No.9 just as Kane has talked about matching the longevity of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Collymore on England's No.9 problem
The former Premier League and England striker said the shift away from two central strikers and two wide men has shaped the problem. In his view, the modern game has pushed more attacking players wide, where output is judged differently and the striker is still measured on one thing: goals.
“If you're a centre-forward/striker, you're judged on one thing, and that's goals.”
He added: “I think that in the last 15, 20 years, most teams play with the front three.” That change, he said, has reduced the number of players learning to carry the burden in the middle.
Watkins, Calvert-Lewin, Welbeck
Watkins has already been part of England’s answer, but the discussion around him shows how thin the pool is. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Danny Welbeck were mooted as possible back-up strikers if Watkins did not hit the form patch that he did.
That is the complication for England. The senior side still has Kane, but the next layer has not produced an obvious successor through the domestic system. Collymore said the shortage begins earlier, in youth football, where he sees an alarming lack of depth in the striking department.
“There's no doubt in my mind that the reversion from playing two central strikers with two wide men there to just service the striker rather than cut in and shoot every time, which drives me mad, is to blame.”
Haaland and the wider trend
Erling Haaland was cited as an exception to the trend in 2026, which only sharpens the contrast. England’s issue is not that elite No.9s no longer exist; it is that they are not emerging often enough through the domestic pathway Collymore described.
For England, that leaves Kane carrying the role for now and Watkins, Calvert-Lewin and Welbeck as the names discussed behind him. The longer the search for a true successor goes on, the more the gap between Kane and the next No.9 will define selection decisions.
