Art lasts, life is short. That was the motto above the England captain's head as he addressed the Polish media in a happily besieged town hall yesterday. Nobody needed to tell him that. Paul Gascoigne, maybe, but never Alan Shearer, writes Paul Hayward

Gascoigne, Glenn Hoddle and Shearer - all three are approaching forks in the road. Tonight's World Cup qualifier could be the making or breaking of Hoddle as England coach and should tell us whether Gascoigne really is on the path to any kind of salvation. For Shearer, the question is whether his talents will be paraded on football's grandest stage. If not, Italy or Spain could yet beckon.

No sooner had Ronaldo and his evidently barmy agent been linked with a move from Barcelona to Inter Milan than Shearer was being touted as his successor. This is slightly more than silly-season transfer talk.

At Bobby Robson's prompting, Barca inquired about buying Shearer for £13 million before he moved from Blackburn to Newcastle for a couple of million more. If Ronaldo goes, Barcelona's mission will be to hunt down one of the world's three or four most prolific strikers. Shearer is in that group.

Sir John Hall, Newcastle's chairman, has always said that the Geordies are the English Catalans. He may regret putting ideas in Shearer's head. At present the idea of him leaving Newcastle is a mere summer fancy. But Shearer's deep-rooted competitiveness, and his awareness of his place in history, are powerful engines. On England's success or failure may yet hinge the question of where the Shearer family end up next.

England have received an exceptionally warm welcome in Katowice where they are regarded as something truly exotic. At yesterday's press conference, a Polish reporter delivered paean to Shearer, saying: "It is a great honour for us to host one of the best strikers in the world." Shearer seemed genuinely surprised and touched.

The legend "the world's most expensive footballer" follows him everywhere, a bit like Bill Clinton and "the world's most powerful man". Shearer is not one to buckle or fret under the weight of his title or the task of keeping England's World Cup campaign afloat. Of Ronaldo's possible move for more than his £15 million fee, Shearer said: "Records are there to be broken but I'd prefer it if he didn't do it because I like the tag of being the world's most expensive player. It's an honour and a privilege."

He says these things so coolly and earnestly that nobody could doubt the scale of his yearning for triumph which may yet come his way if England make it to France next year, and Kenny Dalglish's refurbishing work on the Tyne has the Catalans - sorry, Geordies - roaring again next season.

Shearer was even unhappy at being rested by Hoddle for the South Africa match last Saturday. "I would have much preferred to play in the game," he said. He says, also, that contrary to a popular urban myth, he has never taken Italian lessons. But he has been studying the language of continental football, and may yet be tempted to apply it. The official line is this: "It's just speculation. I've had that all my career. I've signed a five-year contract with Newcastle, and I'd be very surprised if I didn't see that out."

That logic seems fine for now. If Newcastle and England continue to underachieve it might well change.

There was much talk yesterday of how Gascoigne's presence quickened the pulse of his comrades. To this eye, Shearer has an equally important effect. Only at the front and very back of his team (with David Seaman) is Hoddle without dilemmas and problems.

"One of the strongest parts of our team is that cutting edge, in the final third of the pitch," Hoddle says. "Even in training Alan's finishing is first class."

Hoddle said something else that may stick in Shearer's hawk-like mind. "Until you get to the World Cup finals and a player proves himself at that level, you don't know whether he really is the best in the world." Shearer wants to be, and Newcastle had better hope he tries to prove it with them.