Harry Kane told it’s ‘the beginning of the end’ for his England career as Paul Scholes claims Three Lions captain ‘looks out of place’ in youthful squad

Former England star Scholes believes that Kane’s time playing for his country is coming to an end after he was left out of Lee Carsley’s side to face Greece in the Nations League. England won the game 3-0 and his replacement, Ollie Watkins, scored within seven minutes. Kane did play against the Republic of Ireland, scoring in the 5-0 win from the penalty spot, but Scholes believes he looked “out of place”.

• Getty

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Carsley picked a number of youthful players in his squad, and Scholes thinks that Thomas Tuchel, his replacement, may look to scale back the Bayern star’s involvement internationally. Kane has said that he has no plans to retire after the 2026 World Cup in North America but Scholes believes the decision may be taken for him.

  WHAT SCHOLES SAID

  Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Scholes said: “It felt like the end of Harry Kane – the beginning of the end. He looked out of place in the team. When you get older you feel like everything happens a bit quicker around you and it looked a bit like that. But I don’t know how we’d replace him.”

  Roy Keane did present a counter-argument, insisting that Kane is only 31, but Scholes pointed out that was the exact age that Alan Shearer was when he retired from England duty.

• Getty Images

  WHAT NEXT?

  Kane will next be in action when Bayern face Augsburg in the Bundesliga this weekend. He has scored 17 goals in 16 games in all competitions for the club this season.