Graeme Souness believes that Harry Kane is England's only world class player as Gareth Southgate's men prepare to take on Iran in their opening World Cup game.
England begin their competition in Qatar with the match against Iran on Monday afternoon and captain Kane is looking to lead the country to another final and beyond after last year's Euros. The 29-year-old will also be aiming to recapture the Golden Boot he won in Russia in 2018 and with France having lost Karim Benzema this weekend to injury, one contender for that prize will unfortunately not be able to play in Qatar.
Ahead of England's first game, former Liverpool and Spurs midfielder Souness, now a pundit for Sky Sports, believes that Kane is the country's only top class player.
READ MORE: Antonio Conte's Djed Spence decision and his crunch meeting with Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici
"Harry Kane is a world class player. We’re in a business now where everyone leaves as a club legend and everyone’s a great player, but Harry Kane is a world class player," the Scot told William Hill and Footy Accumulators' new show No Tippy Tappy Football. "I'll give you my definition of a world class player. You are world class if you can leave the club you’re at and then can go and play in another team effortlessly.
"England only have one player that I would put in that category in their squad in my opinion, and that’s Harry Kane. My fear is that other than Harry, where are the goals going to come from? That’s a problem for Gareth [Southgate]. That’s why I would play [James] Maddison – he’s the best out of any attacking midfield player at the moment in terms of getting assist and scoring goals.
"I think there’s more goals in James Maddison, though. I like him – I met him on holiday in Portugal last year – and he’s got a bit of mischief about him."
While Souness believes only Kane is world class in the England squad, he was full of praise for Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden, who he believes has all the tools to reach his captain's level.
"Foden is destined to be an absolute star," he said. "You often get asked by newspapers to pick a rising star or a youngster who is going to burst onto the world stage and you hear these foreign names like Pedri at Barcelona, but you've got one on your doorstep! Foden could be an absolute world beater."
READ NEXT:
- Antonio Conte's Djed Spence decision and his crunch meeting with Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici
- Conte's Yves Bissouma and Oliver Skipp decision must be rectified ahead of Hojbjerg suspension
- Tottenham news: Antonio Conte eyes Sporting Lisbon star as Neymar delivers Harry Kane verdict
- Tottenham have their own Neymar and Kylian Mbappe following £8.3m January transfer swoop
- Full list of Tottenham players going to Qatar 2022 World Cup as Eric Dier, Rodrigo Bentancur in
