'Unselfish' England star tipped as 'perfect' replacement for captain Harry Kane as Jude Bellingham's armband credentials are ignored

The Three Lions will not be passing their armband on any time soon, with prolific striker Kane still very much the leader in that camp. He is already his country’s all-time leading goalscorer, with 73 efforts to his name, and is expected to break Peter Shilton’s appearance record of 125 caps.

While the Bayern Munich frontman has plenty left in the tank, he is 32 years of age and will either be phased out of international football or walk away on his own accord at some point. A new skipper will then be required.

Stuart Pearce knows what it takes to fill that role, with the Nottingham Forest legend taking great pride in leading England onto the field when performing at the peak of his powers. He believes that a maturing midfielder on Arsenal’s books is the ideal candidate to take over from Kane.

Pearce - speaking in association with Freebets.com, home of best casino sites - told GOAL when asked if the likes of Rice and Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham are in the mix to succeed Kane: "I would like to see Declan Rice. I’m biased, I’ve worked with Dec at West Ham. I’ve seen his maturity coming through. He handled a move brilliantly away from West Ham, with the blessing of the West Ham fans. I think he would be perfect. Very unselfish young man as well. I think he’d be absolutely ideal to take over from Harry."

England, who are now working under former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel, will return to action in September when taking in 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia.