Former England and Arsenal defender Tony Adams believes Harry Kane should be stripped of the captain's armband and be replaced by West Ham United skipper Declan Rice.
Tottenham striker Kane has led the Three Lions through Gareth Southgate's tenure as boss, leading the international side to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the Euro 2020 finals where they lost to Italy on penalties.
At this winter's World Cup in Qatar, Kane was once again tasked with leading England and started every game in the middle-east. England were knocked out to current holders France on Saturday with Kane scoring one penalty and missing another, the match finishing 2-1.
READ MORE: Sky Sports journalist makes West Ham fan prediction amid Nikola Vlasic's Premier League future
At 29, Kane turns 30 next summer, the forward is approaching the latter stage of his career and with the England squad getting younger with each passing tournament, Adams believes a changing of the guard at captain is required not only because of the Spurs star's age but because it's hard to replace Kane during a match if he is skipper.
“We’ve got good players but I stand by changing the captain," Adams wrote in his column for The Sun. "Harry Kane is the No 9 and did not shirk responsibility for missing that penalty. But we’ve got to think about what we do now with the captaincy.
“I believe Declan Rice should have the job. Is Kane going to be the shining star at the next two tournaments? When are we going to get to the point where we take him off and change it? It’s hard to do when he’s captain.”
Rice became West Ham's permanent captain following the retirement of Mark Noble at the end of the last season.
READ NEXT
- Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko hints at injury return ahead of Premier League clash vs West Ham
- What West Ham's Nayef Aguerd told France teammates ahead of Morocco's World Cup run
West Ham coach's admission on rest for World Cup stars ahead of Premier League return vs Arsenal
How Declan Rice and Lucas Paqueta can help West Ham for Arsenal clash after World Cup exits
West Ham's Gianluca Scamacca sets Udinese target for friendly clash after Cambridge struggles
