England U20 star is most inform striker behind Harry Kane but could play for World Cup rivals
Thomas Tuchel has been told that Keinan Davis could be the perfect back-up option for England – but it may already be too little too late.
The 28-year-old is playing his way into World Cup wildcard contention this summer after enjoying the best goalscoring season of his career.
Only Lautaro Martinez is ahead of him in the race for the Serie A golden boot, despite table-toppers Inter Milan being 10 places and 31 points ahead of Udinese in the standings.
Udinese captain Jesper Karlström exclusively told talkSPORT.com: “First of all, he’s a good guy. He’s a top guy and obviously a top-quality player, which helped us a lot this season.
“For him, it’s only to be without injuries. He’s, I would say, too good for this club.
“Now we’re really happy to have him here, and I’m happy for him that he could show his quality this year.”
Davis has inserted himself into the picture to be Harry Kane’s chief back-up, with Mason Greenwood excluded from England selection.
His nine Serie A goals are only one behind both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Danny Welbeck for most league goals scored by an Englishman in the world’s top 15 leagues this season.
However, Davis’ four strikes in 2026 are double the output of Calvert-Lewin and Welbeck, despite missing three matches through injury.
“For sure, this is his best season since he’s been playing for Udinese,” club manager Kosta Runjaić told talkSPORT.com.
“He struggled the first season, and even the second season, he had some injuries, so he couldn’t get into the rhythm. Now, this season, he’s playing a very important role inside the team, scoring goals, but not only about this, he’s working hard for the team, he’s able to keep the ball, a very skilful player. And a player who makes a difference.
“I’m very happy about his development and his progress. I don’t want to compare him to anyone else.
“I think the most important thing is that he will be able to play all the other games, to continue his development and his work process, and to continue to score.
“And then, for sure, he’s still, for me, a very young player, a very young striker, and we’ll see what the future will bring.
“He’s a very modern striker, he has everything. He has speed, technical skills, good perception on the pitch, and he’s a good finisher.
“So he just needs games, and he needs to play to get the rhythm, to become really physically strong.”
Davis himself attributes his newfound form to his mental development as much as the physical side of the game.
At Aston Villa, John Terry said ‘he was a nightmare to play against in training’, while Jack Grealish added that he’s ‘absolutely unplayable’.
But when asked by talkSPORT whether that sort of praise sunk in at the time, Davis replied: “No, not really.
“I’m thinking about it today, to be honest, because I was just reflecting on the game yesterday [3-0 win over Fiorentina] in terms of how much I’ve developed.
“I was just so not developed mentally at all at Aston Villa. It’s not a regret, but it’s just like, this is kind of what I had to go through.
“When they talk about that in training, in training, I was very good. I didn’t really get a lot of opportunities to play.
“But still, even if I did play, I don’t think I would have done too well because I was just so in my own head and thinking about doing something wrong or not being who I truly was.
“But I’m grateful for that because I’ve just developed along the way, the loans I’ve had, and then being here right now, if I had this mentality whilst I was at Aston Villa, it would have gone a lot better. But I’m happy that it’s got to this stage now. So I’m grateful for that journey.”
On what specifically helped him develop mentally during that journey, Davis added to talkSPORT: “I would just say experience.
“When you’re at Aston Villa, I was always maybe the third choice striker, so I’m really just training and just taking everything I see in, but not really having a responsibility to help the team.
“Then when I went to [Nottingham] Forest, I got the responsibility to play, and then I understood what it meant, that you’re actually the striker, you’re supposed to help the team score goals, and the team’s relying on you. So, that changes a lot of stuff as well.
“Then you just come into your own, you start having, not an ego, but it’s like, cool, this is my job, and this is what I have to do.
“Obviously, Watford wasn’t the best, but it was still the same thing.
Coming out here, I’m away from England, I’m away from home, and I’m on my own with my family and my daughter.
“But I’m on my own in terms of my reputation here. Nobody knows who I am. They don’t really care what I’ve done in England.
“So, I just want to show them on the pitch and then build my reputation up that way.
“Just maturing, developing my eyes on the pitch and then with that, you just grow confidence and become more comfortable in yourself.”
Davis snubbed interest from EFL clubs to succeed Everton striker Beto as Udinese’s new number nine.
His only goal during his first season in Italy was the winning strike at Frosinone that ensured Udinese weren’t relegated from Serie A.
22 months on and the three-cap England U20 international’s form would be putting him firmly in the window for a first senior call-up.
Davis admitted earlier this year that he can already see himself playing for Jamaica and is ‘in the process of sorting out a passport.’
He was included in the Reggae Boyz’s 60-man preliminary squad for their World Cup playoff against New Caledonia later this month.
Davis could then find himself at the showpiece tournament against England, but as things stand, he remains available to declare for both.
And European football expert Andy Brassell believes his profile would actually make him an ideal fit for Tuchel to take as back-up for Kane.
“If you are looking for the sort of person who is going to back up Harry Kane, it has to be someone who is not a superstar. I mean that with every bit of respect to him.
“Frankly, getting yourself in the headspace to know that you are not going to play unless something goes badly wrong, but that you can play and you will be needed to step up if there is an emergency, I think that is something very particular in a tournament squad.
“If you look at other players who have understudied Kane before, whether it’s Nicolas Jackson at the moment or Ivan Toney in the past.
“I think if you are someone who feels that you are a top billing kind of striker, to just get little crumbs from the table is quite a complicated thing to do. But I feel like Davies would be humble and relatively suited to that.
“I guess the one drawback, there has always been a feeling, ever since Fikayo Tomori didn’t quite nail himself a regular spot in the England squad.
“Of course, we know that Tomori and Thomas Tuchel are having a dialogue at the moment.
“And maybe his chances of making the World Cup aren’t completely written off. But English coaches have traditionally not paid much attention to, or if they have, not really rated Serie A.
“So I would be really interested to know what sort of value Tuchel puts on Davies’ achievements so far.
“But look, if he is looking at Tomori, I am sure he will at least be aware of what Davies is doing.”
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