MANCHESTER, England — Marcus Rashford has the potential to emulate Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Rashford, 21, made his 150th Manchester United appearance in the 2-1 win over Brighton on Sunday, reaching the mark at a younger age than both Rooney and Ronaldo.
Rooney left Old Trafford in 2017 as the club’s greatest goalscorer, while Ronaldo has been crowned the world’s best player five times and Solskjaer believes Rashford, who has scored in four-consecutive Premier League games, can reach the same level.
“Definitely, he can be absolutely top class,” the Norwegian said. “He is only 21 but the maturity he is showing at times is more than 21 and his work rate.
“The more you score the more you believe you are going to score and everyone says when you don’t score ‘he is bound to score soon.’
“The more you score the more chance you have of being confident, running into the same positions.
“The way he works during the week is fantastic because he practices a lot. It is a pleasure working with him.”
Rashford marked his 150th club game with a fine goal against Brighton, finding the top corner from an acute angle.
He has scored in five of Solskjaer’s seven games in charge — all wins — and Ashley Young believes the England international is benefiting from working with a renowned striker.
“It’s not a bad person to learn off, is it?” said Young of the former United striker who now sits in the Old Trafford dugout. “I think he’s learning each day and obviously the manager will guide him in the way he does. Marcus just wants to learn.
“I’ve said it from the time he broke into the team and even before then, he can be an unbelievable talent, he’s got the world ahead of him.
“He wants to learn as well, which is a good thing to see in a youngster now. He’s on a great scoring run right now and I hope it continues for him.”
United will look to make it eight wins in a row when they visit Arsenal in the FA Cup on Friday night.
Solskjaer made wholesale changes against Reading in the third round, but Young insists confidence is so high under the new caretaker boss that United will fancy their chances at the Emirates.
“We’ll work on what we need to this week, prepare in the right way and I’m sure if we can play the way we’ve been showing and even add to what we’ve done, I’m sure we’ll go down there and do well,” Young said.
Be the first to comment