Is Harry Kane the man to break Wayne Rooney's England goal record?

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Harry Kane returns to England duty this week with expectation very much resting on his shoulders.

While the Tottenham striker's 'one season wonder' tagline at club level has been well and truly rubbished with consecutive Premier League Golden Boots, his impact at international level is still in question.

Admittedly, being asked to take corners in France (his only international tournament) last summer did the Spurs star no favours. But with Wayne Rooney’s retirement earlier this season, 24-year-old Kane now is the flag-bearer for Three Lions success.

With Kane’s goal-scoring record in recent years having raised questions over his chances of breaking Alan Shearer’s Premier League record of 260 goals, he must be considered a serious contender for Rooney’s crown of England’s all-time top scorer.

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

Though the Tottenham man broke into the squad at a much later stage than his Everton counterpart, with Rooney making his debut at 17 while Kane was 21, he still has more than enough time to chase down the record.

In order to statistically asses Kane’s chances of reaching that 54-goal tally in an England shirt, it is important to take into account how much game time he will get.

International football is a tough schedule to predict. Across the last four year cycle - from the 2013-14 World Cup qualifying campaign to last season – the Three Lions have averaged 11 games a season.

With England having been almost as equally unsuccessful across both tournaments during that time, it is unlikely they will drop below that average across the remainder of Kane’s time in the Three Lions setup.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

With 21 games and 10 goals for the national side, the former Norwich and Leicester loanee needs another 44 goals to lead the way on his own.

Should Kane continue at his current goal-scoring rate of 0.48 goals a game in an England shirt, he’ll be netting around five goals a season for the Three Lions.

So far in his England career Kane is, marginally, bettering Rooney’s goal-scoring rate, with fractionally better ratios for both goals per game and games per goal.

Taking his current statistics, and assuming England aren’t going to progress too much further in the coming years, the Spurs striker needs just shy of nine more seasons (8.8) in a Three Lions shirt, playing every game, to break the record.

Of course there are a huge number of factors and permutations which could count against Kane and make Rooney’s record seem an insurmountable climb.

Harry Kane - Tottenham's star man in numbers

The opposition England will face must be taken into account. During Rooney’s time in the England squad the emergence of traditionally lesser footballing nations - the likes of San Marino or Andorra - as regular opponents means there is an argument that the ex-Manchester United man had an easy run of defences to face, even during international friendlies.

However, since Southgate has taken the helm there has been a clear re-think on the friendly front. Having picked games against the likes of France, Spain and Germany - an approach which also benefits England's Fifa coefficient ranking for tournament seedings - the former Middlesbrough manager is shortening Kane’s odds of scoring on a regular basis.

Friendlies will soon be replaced by Uefa's new Nations League, meaning those higher calibre fixtures will become more of a regular occurrence whether we like it or not.

While there are plenty of factors counting against Kane, there are also a number to consider in his favour.

In Pictures | Harry Kane's Premier League goals 2016/17

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Kane is a model professional. Since breaking into the Spurs side and then the national setup there has not been a single hint of trouble off the field.

Furthermore, his dedication to his physique and fitness - should he maintain it - will arguably mean he holds his leading spot in the England side for longer than Rooney, who dropped further back and eventually out of contention in his late 20s and early 30s.

There is, of course, a long way to go and a lot that must fall into place for Kane to go on and break Rooney’s record.

But in terms of statistics, the only person standing in Kane's way is himself.