‘Marcus Rashford has been transferred the energy of Cristiano Ronaldo’ – Man Utd forward sat alongside Kylian Mbappe for form, says Louis Saha

• Red Devils released Portuguese forward
• Have seen England star shine
• Home-grown ace posts personal-best goal return

WHAT HAPPENED? The Red Devils bid farewell to one fearsome frontman in November 2022, with five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo released as a free agent. Rashford had already been showing signs of rediscovering a spark at that stage, but he has been almost unplayable since the World Cup break – with 16 goals recorded through his last 17 appearances to take him onto a personal-best return of 24 for the season.

WHAT THEY SAID: Former United striker Saha says the 25-year-old is playing as well as anybody on the planet, telling Lord Ping of a remarkable purple patch: “There’s not many better than Rashford at the moment in world football, but Kylian Mbappe is still the best as he’s been incredible over the last three years and the boss at PSG, even with Neymar and Lionel Messi there. In terms of how good he was in the World Cup too, but Mbappe and Rashford are the best two in the world at the moment. Erling Haaland is playing well, but he doesn’t provide as much. The excitement, speed, confidence of this guy at the moment, he’s unplayable and Kylian Mbappe is the same - it’s impossible to defend these skilful players. It seems he’s been transferred the energy of Cristiano Ronaldo since his departure - I don’t know what’s happened to the kid!”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Rashford bagged a brace in his latest outing, as United swept their way to a 3-0 victory over Leicester, and will believe that he should be breaking through the 30-goal barrier this season – a feat that Ronaldo has managed to achieve on a regular basis down the years.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? United have been in impressive form as a collective of late, with Erik ten Hag’s side sat third in the Premier League table – five points adrift of leaders Arsenal – while also readying themselves for the second leg of a Europa League knockout play-off round clash with Barcelona on Thursday that is currently locked at 2-2 on aggregate.