Thomas Tuchel has identified Jude Bellingham as an option at No 9 for England as he looks for alternatives to Harry Kane. The head coach sees the Real Madrid midfielder as a candidate to lead the line, a search made more urgent by the limited cover available behind England’s captain.
There is no prospect yet of Tuchel having to consider life without Kane. His late strike in England’s 2-0 Nations League win over Czechia in Prague on Tuesday took him to 87 goals in 123 international appearances, and Tuchel backed the 33-year-old to last another decade at the highest level. The England head coach also tipped Kane to reach a century of international goals soon and said England cannot expect to produce a replica of their greatest forward.
Even so, there is concern over whether England have enough depth in attack. Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney were overlooked for this camp. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who came on for Kane during the defeat by Spain on Saturday, is 29 and has four goals in 13 caps. Liam Delap, the 23-year-old Nottingham Forest forward, is yet to earn a senior call-up. It was noted that Bellingham led the line after coming on for Kane in the closing stages against Czechia, wearing the captain’s armband.
“You will not get another Harry Kane, first of all,” Tuchel said. “We look for different solutions. We finished the game with Jude as a No 9. There will be someone else but it will not be Harry or a copy of Harry. We will find a solution when it comes to it but maybe not me. It might be another 10 years.”
Tuchel’s view of Bellingham’s versatility is central to the thinking. “I like him as a No 9,” he said. “Then he can contribute to both sides and overloads the sides and doesn’t affect so much of the balance.” He explained that England had found a new role for Bellingham in the previous match, as a central No 10, with the shape closer to a 4-2-3-1 than a 4-3-3 so that Kane and Bellingham could play nearer each other and overload both sides. Bellingham, he added, should always be able to go through the last line and end up in the box. “He is a natural goalscorer and has the hunger to be on the scoreboard,” Tuchel said, adding that the midfielder wants the decisive action, which makes little difference to whether he plays as a No 9 or a No 10.
England moved second in Nations League Group A3 by seeing off Czechia, who were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half. Anthony Gordon opened the scoring and Kane finished well late on. “The ball falls down and you see Harry taking the shot and that is exactly the player you want it to drop down to,” Tuchel said. “He does it in every single match. The highest level of finishing.”
Tuchel was the manager who took Kane to Bayern Munich in 2023, and Uli Hoeness, Bayern’s honorary president, has since said the former Tottenham striker is the club’s greatest signing. “That is so beautiful as it tells me everyone can see his true value and his personality,” Tuchel said. “It is not easy to change and to come to Bayern Munich when you win, win, win and it is a big club. You are under the spotlight and he won everyone over.”
England’s next assignment is a trip to Rijeka to face Croatia on Saturday. It remains to be seen whether Tuchel sticks with Trent Alexander-Arnold, who marked his first international appearance since June 2025 by creating Gordon’s goal. “Trent’s outstanding,” Kane said. “The delivery, the passing range, the crossing but also today defensively he was outstanding. He’s a fantastic player. Trent just has to keep his head down, keep working hard. He’s been great in camp so far. He’s showing to the boss that he wants to be here.”