Gary Neville has said Harry Kane is ‘gold’ for England and insists the forward must start this weekend’s Euro 2024 final against Spain.
Kane’s performances have been criticised throughout the tournament with the England captain below his best at Euro 2024.
The 30-year-old was substituted during the semi-final win over the Netherlands on Wednesday evening with replacement Ollie Watkins scoring a 90th-minute winner for England.
Despite his displays, Kane remains the joint-leading scorer at Euro 2024 with three goals and Neville said there should be no doubts around his place in the team.
He called Kane arguably ‘the greatest England player ever’ and said his leadership and goals are crucial to Gareth Southgate’s side.
“I spoke to Wayne Rooney four or five weeks ago before the tournament started and he said Harry Kane is the greatest England player ever,” Neville told Sky Sports News.
“That is massive praise from someone who has been around the block with England in Rooney.
“I wouldn’t fight to disagree with him either. Harry Kane has been absolutely sensational. I always called him gold when he was at Tottenham, you just know full well that he’s going to deliver for you. He’s a solid character.
“I think he’s obviously below his best in this tournament, it does look like he is carrying something and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it emerged in a week or two that he’s had issues during the tournament with something that he’s trying to bandage up.
“You look at that [knockout] record now and some of the greatest goalscorers of all time are on that list, obviously Kylian Mbappe (who has eight knockout goals, the same number as Gerd Muller, Miroslav Klose and Antoine Griezmann) is seen as the best player in the world right now.
“Harry Kane is someone, ultimately at this moment in time, who will not be dropped by Gareth Southgate. I know there is a sense that people think we are better without him, but it wouldn’t send a great message to the squad internally. He’s very clearly their leader and Southgate has full, total faith in him.
“And I also think if you’re the opposition team, he is England’s talisman. He’s the man who has gone over to Germany this year and has ripped it up from a goalscoring perspective.
“So I think the Spanish team on Sunday, who are a fantastic team, are looking at our team sheet and thinking that Kane is going to start. And in previous games in Ivan Toney and what Ollie Watkins did, we’ve got brilliant players to come off the bench and be able to disrupt a game that is not going well for England.”
