AMID all the talk of who Gareth Southgate should have selected as his supplementary strikers for Qatar, it has been easy to avoid the huge Harry Kane-shaped elephant in the room.

If Southgate has to name Callum Wilson in his starting line-up in the next few weeks, or if there had been a scenario where he had played an Ivan Toney or a Dominic Calvert-Lewin had they been selected in the squad, it will mean Kane is either injured or suspended. And in either of those scenarios, England will find themselves in serious trouble.

Kane is a number of different things to this England side – and each and every one of them makes him irreplaceable.

He is Southgate’s captain and figurehead, leading the team on the field and standing alongside his manager if things become difficult off it. He is the focal point for England’s attack, leading the line with his back to goal when required, but also increasingly adept at dropping deep to pull defenders out of position and link play, a skill-set he has developed impressively at Tottenham in the last couple of seasons.

Above all else though, Kane is the one England player who knows how to locate the back of the net.

His record of 51 goals from 75 international matches means he is just two goals behind Wayne Rooney in England’s all-time goalscoring list, and given his record at recent major tournaments, there is every chance he will leave Qatar as his country’s leading scorer. Repeat the success he enjoyed in Russia, and he might even claim a second Golden Boot.

In an era where the ‘traditional number nine’ has slipped out of fashion, and in a tournament where the world’s leading marksman, Erling Haaland, will be absent because of Norway’s failure to qualify, Kane stands out as something of an anomaly.

That only serves to increase his value, though, and while the current England squad might have plenty of weaknesses, it is hard to think of too many of their rivals that would not be instantly improved were Kane to be eligible for their team.

“It’s easy for people to take Harry for granted,” said Southgate, after the England skipper scored his 50th international goal during this summer’s Nations League games. “His goals will always be the centre part of the story, but his all-round game – the way he leads the line, the way he competes, the way he presses from the front – is exceptional.”

He is every bit as integral to Spurs, and in the last couple of weeks, Antonio Conte has expressed concerns over Kane’s physical wellbeing, claiming his own attacking talisman is “exhausted” after an intense start to the season.

Clearly, that is a worry, although any sense of physical or mental fatigue should be more than counterbalanced by the boost Kane clearly receives whenever he pulls the Three Lions onto his chest. England have needed their skipper badly in the past – and he has never let them down.

“I love scoring goals, and I love playing for my country,” said Kane, when the prospect of eclipsing Rooney’s England record was raised earlier this summer.

“Whenever I can help my team, I’m glad to do that. Especially if you’re talking about a massive event like a World Cup.”