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Rooney backs Kane to break England scoring record in 'two or three years'

| 12 September 2019

Rooney backs Kane to break England scoring record in 'two or three years'

Wayne Rooney scored 53 goals in an England shirt while 26-year-old Harry Kane already has 26.

Wayne Rooney expects his place as England's record goalscorer to be handed over to Harry Kane inside the next "two or three years".

Rooney scored 53 goals in an England shirt, breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's previous mark of 49 along the way.

But he believes current captain and Tottenham striker Kane, who already has 26 at the age of 26, to pass him sooner rather than later.

"I never take goals for granted, I love scoring them. Once I got to 35 for England, I could feel the record getting close," he told the Wayne Rooney Podcast.

"I don't think it'll stand for 50 years like Bobby Charlton's, I think Harry Kane, possibly the next two or three years will... He's a fantastic goalscorer and his record for England is fantastic.

"When I got the record and then went back for my last game I said it would be an honour to go and present him like Bobby Charlton presented me with the golden boot and I'm sure it won't be before too long."

Rooney, coming to the end of his time with DC United before a return to England with Derby, has been enjoying watching Gareth Southgate's England side sweep all before them in Euro 2020 qualifying.

England at the 2006 World Cup, where they failed to fulfil their potential (Nick Potts/PA)

Southgate appears capable of turning potential into prizes, something Rooney's 'Golden Generation' was unable to do.

However, Manchester United's all-time leading scorer believes that had someone like current Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola managed that squad, things could have been different.

"I watch them (England) with excitement and happiness when they are winning," he said. "You look at our team 10 yeas ago and arguably we had the best group of players in world football.

"Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole, (Steven) Gerrard, (Paul) Scholes, (Frank) Lampard, (David) Beckham, myself, Michael Owen – our team then, if we had a Guardiola with that group of players, we'd have won everything, no doubt about it."