Former England international Townsend believes that while Rooney was a cut above any English player in his prime, Kane is England's greatest ever.

On the "World Cup Breakfast" show, co-host Andy Goldstein asked Townsend: "Is Kane the greatest player England has ever had?"

Townsend replied: "If we're talking about peak performance, I'd pick Rooney, Euro 2004. In my lifetime, no one was better than him at that time."

"But if we're talking about career longevity, it has to be Kane. He made his England debut around 2015, and 11 years later, he's still the first choice, still performing at the highest level, the captain, and the top scorer."

"I don't think I've ever seen a striker in my lifetime maintain such a high level for so long like Harry, so for me, in terms of longevity, I have to put him ahead of Rooney."

Then Darren Bent asked: "Would you say Kane is still the most important player?"

Townsend replied: "I think so, especially when you're facing teams like Panama or Ghana where chances will be very few because these teams defend very compactly.

"DR Congo will be the same—they'll drop very deep and stay compact. You need a killer in front of goal, you need a Kane. Apart from that one mistake late on against Ghana, if you give him a chance, he usually scores."

"And you've seen he's already scored three goals in this World Cup, and I think he could have scored four or five."

"So we need players like that. Against DR Congo or Ghana, we need that efficient striker who can put the ball in the back of the net.

"If he's injured or not playing, I don't think... Watkins has different qualities, Ivan Toney too, but I think when we need it, there isn't a calmer finisher in the penalty area."

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