The myth of the "new" Alan Shearer

"He reminds me so much of Alan. As an old-fashioned centre-forward, there's nobody better in the country at the moment. It's not only that he's strong, powerful and good with both feet, it's also the fact that he's more than just a goalscorer."

That was said (by John Gorman) of a certain James Beattie - since found wanting in the Premier League and happily finding his level in the Championship with Sheffield United - but it could just as easily have been said about Dean Ashton, this week linked with a £15m move to Tottenham. Google Dean Ashton and 'new Shearer' and you'll get a very lengthy list of results.

Yes, that's £15m for a striker who has scored 13 league goals for West Ham since joining them for £7m in January 2006 and looked so far out of his depth on his England debut that he was in danger of getting the bends.

There's even been talk of a Manchester United move for a player who often looked overweight and sluggish last season, to the extent that even some England fans were chanting 'you're just a fat Annie Lennox' in his direction.

But the English media is so desperate for a new great white hope to replace Shearer that they have gladly seized upon Ashton, who fills all the criteria of being biggish, decent with his head and handy with both feet.

Before him it was Beattie and in between there was Wayne Rooney, who the media desperately tried to shoehorn into the mould of Shearer and then wondered why he didn't score as many goals for England. There's a very good reason why Rooney wanted the number 10 shirt rather than the number 9 at United - it's because he's not really a striker.

But that didn't stop people trying to cast him in the role of Shearer and early reports of his form for Everton were scattered with references to the Geordie, whose powers have taken on mythical proportions since his retirement.

But in terms of ability, the mid-90s era Shearer was out of this world and the finest striker I have seen during my lifetime, ahead of Lineker, Owen, Rooney etc. He was never as good after the injuries started piling up, but he was still quality right up until the end.

We may never know whether Juande Ramos is really a fan of Ashton or if it's a desperate piece of summer skullduggery on the part of the papers, but the reason people will even vaguely believe that a striker who has never been prolific could be worth £15m are those words 'new Shearer' and 'good old-fashioned centre-forward'.

The truth is that England no longer produces those kind of players - they are the preserve of Italy, Germany and Holland and the likes of Luca Toni, Mario Gomez and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. They are supposedly English-style centre-forwards along with Premier League players like Roque Santa Cruz and Kenwyne Jones.

The fact is that England's biggest clubs have not produced a decent centre-forward from their ranks since Michael Owen but we're all so desperate for the 'new Alan Shearer' that we cling on to half-decent players like Beattie and Ashton and try to make them great. Big they may be, but great they are definitely not.