'Marcus Rashford is not a world-class striker'

The 23-year-old has had another prolific start to the campaign for Manchester United, but it appears he hasn’t won everybody over.

Louis Saha reckons Marcus Rashford cannot be classified as a ‘world-class striker’ yet, as he still lacks that ‘deadly’ last ingredient that his former Manchester United teammates Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo possess.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has greatly used Rashford’s versatility to move him into more of a central role at Old Trafford.

Many questioned the United boss’ decision, given the lack of killer instincts Rashford seemingly had. But they were made to eat their own words following the youngster’s prolific return in 2019/20, which saw him score 17 goals in 31 Premier League games. Had it not been for a mid-season back injury, he could’ve challenged for the Golden Boot.

Rashford has since proved his scoring ability in the Champions League this season, scoring six goals in as many games. Although he only has three goals to show in 10 Premier League matches so far.

“Marcus Rashford is a world-class forward but he isn’t yet a world-class striker,” Saha told Genting Bet.

“When you look around the world, there aren’t many players playing for big clubs such as Manchester United and perform on a big stage with his country.

“But Rashford can do whatever you want from him, he can defend when you need to and he can actually attack and create his own goals, score free kicks. He’s a top forward.

“A striker is a different animal, a striker is someone who is really eager and you can see in his face that they want to score all the time and will focus on how to maximise the position where he can score. They won’t try to find that kind of ‘nice look’, a striker is just deadly.

“This is what I learned from playing with the likes of Van Nistelrooy and [former France teammate] David Trezeguet. At this moment, Marcus Rashford isn’t a world-class striker, but he’s a world-class forward.

The former Red Devils forward added: “Rashford still has the youth and the potential to do it – as Cristiano started in a certain position and now is the best striker you can ever imagine.

“Being a striker is an attitude and they obsess about scoring goals, they’re going to shout at any player that doesn’t give them the ball and you shout to yourself because you miss a goal.”

Rashford will hope to prove Saha wrong in the derby between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.