Lukaku likened to Ronaldo as Rashford hails Man Utd & Belgium ‘beast’

Marcus Rashford sees similarities between Manchester United team-mate Romelu Lukaku and former Old Trafford favourite Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Red Devils snapped up the Belgium international for £75 million ($99m) in the summer of 2017 and saw him offer a 27-goal return in his debut campaign.

He is now replicating that form on a World Cup stage, with the target found four times in two outings to date.

An untimely ankle issue has cast his involvement in a meeting with England on Thursday into doubt, and Rashford will be among those pleased to see the 25-year-old miss out if he does not recover in time.

The United forward has seen his club colleague up close in 2017-18 and believes his talent and work ethic is comparable to that of Real Madrid icon Ronaldo.

Rashford told Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel: "He's a beast.

"He's a massive threat, he'll be tough to deal with [at the World Cup]."

Asked about Lukaku’s Premier League form, Rashford added: "It doesn't surprise me. When you see his work ethic, it's his determination to improve. It's like what we were talking about with [Cristiano] Ronaldo and wanting to better yourself.

"There's been times when we've stayed behind and practiced finishing. Genuinely we could stay there all day and just try to better ourselves and improve. That's a quality in itself."

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Rashford has also been impressed by Lukaku’s desire to help United be the best they can be, with the club’s leading marksman prepared to do a job for the team when required.

Quizzed on his attitude in training, the Red Devils and England star said: "Everyone is chilled but everybody wants to win, especially when things aren't going our way. There's no time to be joking around. He's a serious guy as you can see."

Rashford will be hoping to figure against Belgium on Thursday as England bring their Group G campaign to a close.

He has been restricted to just one appearance off the bench so far, but Gareth Southgate has vowed to make changes to his side after booking a last-16 berth with one game to spare.