Lack of strikers a worry for England as Tuchel continues to be reliant on Kane

Are English strikers a dying breed? This week's Between the Lines breaks down one of the biggest issues facing the national side.

Harry Kane is Thomas Tuchel's only available out-and-out striker for England's World Cup qualifier against Latvia on Tuesday after Ollie Watkins was ruled out by the injury he suffered against Wales.

Tuchel has an abundance of attacking talent out wide and at No 10 but England continue to be reliant on Kane up front, with Watkins the only alternative established at international level.

Kane is England's record scorer with 74 goals in 109 games for the national side but no other player in Tuchel's squad has more than 18.

Kane is of course in the form of his life right now. He has scored 18 goals in 10 games for Bayern Munich and England this season. He is the top scorer in Europe's major leagues. But for how much longer can England rely on him? And where are the other English No 9s?

Recent seasons show a stark decline in Premier League goals scored by English strikers, from 120 in 2022/23 to just 67 last term. Seven games into the new campaign, the total stands at just six, the lowest percentage share of the overall total on record at 3.3 per cent.

The loss of Kane's goals has of course made an impact following his departure from the Premier League to the Bundesliga when he joined Bayern Munich from Tottenham in August 2023.

But the lack of English strikers filling the gap is a major worry.

It is a question of playing time as well as goals scored.

The same pattern of decline can be seen in minutes played by English strikers in recent Premier League seasons, with this term's total projected to be significantly lower than in previous years.

It is not due to a lack of demand. In fact, as we explained in a previous edition of Between the Lines, this summer's transfer window showed that strikers are increasingly sought-after.

The total of £737m spent on strikers by Premier League clubs was nearly twice as high as last year's figure and considerably higher than those of the 2023 and 2022 summer windows too.

The scramble to recruit out-and-out strikers was led by the Premier League's elite clubs. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle all spent heavily on new No 9s.

The problem for England, though, is that most of those clubs had to look to players from overseas to give them what they needed, with Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko the headline arrivals at Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Chelsea's £30m deal to sign Liam Delap from Ipswich was an exception. The hope is that the 22-year-old, a former England youth international, could become a senior option behind Kane once he returns from the hamstring injury he suffered in September.

But young English No 9s are few and far between.

Amazingly, only seven English players categorised as out-and-out strikers have appeared in the Premier League this season. Delap is the only one of the seven under the age of 26.

The dearth of young English strikers raises questions at academy level. Is youth development in England too heavily geared towards producing wingers and No 10s over centre-forwards?

But it is also a question of opportunity. The vast majority of top-flight teams play with a lone striker, making opportunities harder to come by for young players trying to break through in that position.

It could be argued that England don't necessarily need their main goalscorer to be a striker. In Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Jarrod Bowen, Marcus Rashford and Eberechi Eze, they have plenty of supporting forwards who have shown the capacity to score freely at club level.

In the short-term, Tuchel has the option of redeploying those players as central strikers. He is expected to choose between Rashford, Bowen and Anthony Gordon if Kane can't manage 90 minutes against Latvia following his return from injury.

But as the game evolves back towards out-and-out No 9s, the true cost of England's struggle to produce players capable of competing with a 32-year-old Kane might only become apparent longer term.