Tottenham striker Harry Kane and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford have been likened to Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Gascoigne by Gary Lineker.
Spurs’ star man has just collected a second successive Premier League Golden Boot, while his England colleague at Old Trafford has enjoyed another productive campaign in his development.
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Lineker believes Rashford has the confidence of a young Gazza, with the teenager clearly not in awe of the illustrious names which surrounded him in Jose Mourinho’s squad.
He told The Times on the potential within the England ranks “We’ve got players who won’t bottle it.
“I look at Rashford, 19, he’s taking free kicks ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba and I’m thinking that’s the kind of stuff Gazza would have done.”
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Lineker believes there are plenty of other young talents who can guide the Three Lions towards a bright future, but has reserved special praise for Kane.
The 23-year-old posted a personal best 35-goal haul in 2016-17, with 29 of those efforts coming in the Premier League.
Lineker added: “It’s a bit early for us to go and win the World Cup, but look at some of the talent coming through like Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling and all of a sudden we’ve got central defenders like Michael Keane and John Stones.
"They’ve got a way to go to develop, but there’s something there. Kane just doesn’t care, he shoots from everywhere, he’s like Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I’m not comparing him with Ronaldo, that’s not fair, but Kane has that bravura, an almost arrogance that the best will have.
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“We’ve been through a terrible spell when we’ve just not produced any world class players.
“Wayne Rooney was the only one of his generation really and he just overlapped the golden generation.
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“Now we’re starting to produce really, really good young players.
“I’m optimistic we’ll be competitive and not be embarrassed as in recent tournaments.”
Kane and Rashford are part of Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad which is due to take in a 2018 World Cup qualifier with Scotland on June 10 and a friendly date with France three days later.
