Ollie Watkins continued his excellent goalscoring form as Aston Villa beat Luton Town 3-2 on Saturday evening.
The 28-year-old bagged a first-half brace to put Unai Emery’s side in control before The Hatters’ second-half fightback.
Watkins’ form has seen conversations emerge over his involvement for England in the upcoming European Championships.
Unfortunately for the Villa forward, Harry Kane’s presence has seen his international career reduced to predominantly substitute appearances.
However, Alan Shearer has other ideas.
Aston Villa forward to start for England?
Writing in his latest column for The Athletic, Shearer has suggested Watkins can play alongside Kane in a front two.
He wrote: “Ollie Watkins has been sensational this season. He and Harry Kane have never shared a pitch for England, but what if they did?”
“Play Ollie Watkins in the No 9 role. Kane can drop back into the No 10 space, which we all know is a natural part of his game and one where he has been so key in creating for England, Tottenham and Bayern Munich. Bellingham would take up a deeper midfield position alongside Rice. Foden and Saka still cut in from out wide.”
Shearer added: “Yes, it would be a first, as the two have never shared a pitch for England — but this season, Watkins looks like the most improved player in the Premier League.
“He has 16 league goals already, his best top-flight return, with 11 games left to play. This is already the season of his life.
“Some of the credit for that must go down to Unai Emery, who appears to have told Watkins to do the vast majority of his work between the width of the penalty area. It’s not genius, but it certainly works.”
Is this realistic?
It’s an inventive idea from Shearer, but it’s hard to envisage Gareth Southgate changing from his tried and tested methods.
Jude Bellingham will start in the advanced midfield position; that is non-negotiable. The Real Madrid star’s presence will shut down any hope of Watkins operating in a front two with Kane.
However, if Southgate dropped his rigid system, the prospect of starting Kane and Watkins together would be extremely exciting.
As Shearer has mentioned, the Villa forward is always a willing runner in behind; the same cannot be said for the Bayern Munich man.
Per Sofascore, on average, Kane creates one big chance per game and also plays 1.1 key passes. We’ve seen his partnership with Son Heung-Min flourish in the past. Something similar with Watkins is by no means out of the question.
The prospect of having two players with 43 goals combined on the pitch at the same time is undoubtedly an exciting one.
England need composed finishers in the vital moments and, at the moment, Southgate has two of Europe’s most deadly strikers at his disposal. Surely, working both into his plans has to be a priority.
