England manager Gareth Southgate has admitted he may have made the wrong decision for Tottenham star Harry Kane back in 2015.
The current Three Lions boss was manager of the national side’s Under-21s two years a go and when naming his European Championships squad he included Kane, who had already been capped at senior level for his country.
Two years on and Southgate has called up Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, 19, for his senior team which will face Scotland in a World Cup qualifier in June before a friendly match against France, leaving him unavailable for this summer’s Under-21s European Championships.
Now, Southgate has told that he looked back on his decision to call-up Kane in 2015 to help him make his mind up on Rashford and has made the admission that he may not have made the right choice for the Spurs goal machine.
“When I’ve watched matches like the game away at Chelsea in the FA Cup when Rashford was playing on his own for [a] long period of the game, the game against Chelsea at Old Trafford, the European matches, quarter-finals, semi-finals, where he had such a big impact in big games, he should be in our squad,” Southgate said, as quoted by the Independent.
“The only decision for me was do we send him to both [seniors and Under-21s]. My reflection on the route we went with Harry [Kane] two years ago, that I was obviously closely involved with, I don’t look back at that and think we quite got that right. And you’ve got to use those experiences when you’re forming those decisions.”
Kane has since become one of the best striker’s in the Premier League and in 116 top-flight matches he has bagged a stunning 78 strikes.
He has also been named the Premier League’s golden boot winner for two consecutive seasons, showing that Southgate’s decision hasn’t hampered his career too much.
Southgate’s only worry now will be replicating Kane’s goal record at international level with the forward only managing five strikes in 17 appearances for England so far.