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Wayne Rooney would be “delighted” if Harry Kane surpasses him as England’s record goalscorer, but hopes it happens before the 2022 World Cup.
Kane matched Bobby Charlton on 49 goals for the Three Lions when he struck the winner against Switzerland on March 26.
However, Gareth Southgate chose to rotate his squad for last week’s meeting with Ivory Coast at Wembley.
England cruised to a 3-0 win, with Kane coming on in the 62nd minute, though the Tottenham striker did not score.
Rooney was stunned the forward, who he labelled as “one of the best players the Premier League has seen”, did not start against Ivory Coast, as he believes it would be better for England if Kane breaks the record prior to the World Cup, which starts in November.
“I’d be delighted for him,” Rooney said on Sky Sports. “I was so surprised he didn’t play against Ivory Coast.
“I think for him, for Gareth as well, he should try and get that record before the World Cup so it doesn’t become a distraction, so I would have played him to try and get that record before the World Cup comes along, so there’s no distraction on it.”
The Derby County boss was also asked if Kane, who he also called a “genuine, nice, humble guy” will go on to surpass Alan Shearer as the Premier League’s record goalscorer. The 28-year-old is currently 82 short of the haul of 260.
“I think he gets it, I think he beats Shearer. He’s young enough to do that, if you look at his numbers, he’ll have no problem,” Rooney said.
Kane turned in a star performance in Spurs’ thrashing of Newcastle United on Sunday. He provided one assist, but was involved heavily as Antonio Conte’s team moved into the top four.
After a slow start to the season, Kane now has 12 league goals and six assists, and Rooney is thrilled to see how the forward has developed his game, in particular under Conte.
“When you get a bit older you lose that sharpness but I don’t think it’s the case with Harry,” Rooney added.
“I think over the last couple of seasons, he has been dropping deeper, and I think this is the first time it looks like it’s worked on. If you look every time the ball is played into him, Tottenham have got players sprinting and that allows him to use his quality. He can do both. He can play as a nine, a 10, he’s an incredible player.
“I think Harry Kane of three, four years ago, all he’s thinking about goals. Now he’s thinking goals and assists.
“I’ve been there, I used to love assisting goals, so I know he wants to get the goalscoring record but I think he wants to get the assist record as well and he’s capable of doing it.
“He’s not old, he’s a fairly young lad, I don’t think his speed will have gone, I think he’s done that on his own back but what Conte’s done is he’s gone in and worked on it. If you look at the reaction of the other players, they know he can deliver that pass. It’s almost like [Francesco] Totti at Roma, he’d come deep and they’d have runners going beyond him.
“The one thing I think he needs to do a bit more is go and join in, once he’s played the pass, because if it comes into the box he’s the one player you want to be on the end of it.”
Kane has assisted 40 goals in the Premier League; his first 20 assists were spread across his first 211 appearances in the competition, while his last 20 have come in his last 63 matches.
