England captain Harry Kane emerges as a ‘major doubt’ for Thursday’s friendly against Wales at Wembley, with Thomas Tuchel likely to select a new skipper for the match.
England captain Harry Kane is reportedly a ‘major doubt’ for Thursday’s friendly with Wales at Wembley.
Kane has made an eye-catching start to the 2025-26 season with Bayern Munich, having netted 18 goals in 10 competitive appearances, including an effort in Saturday’s 3-0 success against Eintracht Frankfurt.
However, he picked up a knock in the commanding victory, and was subsequently replaced by Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson in the 85th minute.
Kane was hopeful that he would be “fine” for international duty, but it has now emerged that he could miss Thursday’s friendly.
Kane likely to miss Wales clash
According to Sky Sports News, Kane was unable to take part in Wednesday’s training session due to the ankle issue, and instead, he worked on an individual programme indoors, along with Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah.
The report claims that Kane is a “major doubt” for England’s first game since he found the net in England’s emphatic 5-0 win over Serbia in September’s World Cup qualifier.
While Kane has not been completely ruled out of the home meeting with Wales, there is no need for Thomas Tuchel to risk his star striker for a friendly fixture.
The most likely scenario is that Tuchel will rest his skipper and give him extra time to recover for Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Latvia.
Tuchel set to pick new captain for Wales friendly
With Kane set to miss out through injury, Tuchel will have to elect a new captain for the clash against Craig Bellamy‘s side.
Sky Sports News suggest that Jordan Henderson will get the nod, although that may be dependent on whether he starts at Wembley.
Jordan Pickford, John Stones and Declan Rice could be other candidates due to their experience and status in the England set-up.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins seems like the obvious candidate to deputise as England’s centre-forward in Kane’s absence.
Marcus Rashford is another option after making a promising start to life as a Barcelona player, having scored three goals and provided four assists in 10 appearances.
However, the Manchester United loanee tends to offer a greater threat from the flanks than as a central striker.
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