Rashford is 'perfect partner' for Henry-like Martial at Manchester United, says Yorke

Dwight Yorke has highlighted similarities between Anthony Martial and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, while expressing his belief that Marcus Rashford is the "perfect partner" for the Manchester United striker.

Martial is currently enjoying the most prolific season of his United career to date.

The Frenchman has found the net 19 times in 37 appearances in all competitions, with his latest treble of goals coming in a 3-0 victory over Sheffield United last week - which marked his first hat-trick for the club.

Rashford has hit the same number of goals in three fewer matches, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has opted to push the England international out onto the left wing while favouring Martial as his first-choice centre-forward.

Yorke thinks the United duo have already built up a "good connection" and he can see an effective partnership blossoming in the coming years which could hark back to his own with Andy Cole.

The ex-Red Devils striker also compared Martial's attacking journey to his own and Premier League great Henry's, pointing out that their natural ability in front of goal led to a change of position.

Yorke told The Sun: “Anthony reminds me of myself and Thierry Henry in the way he has started his career playing out wide on the left or right before developing into someone who can play down the middle, while Marcus does not get the credit for how intelligent a player he is.

“He is the perfect partner for Anthony in that he can play just off him as a number ten and drop into the pockets, going long or short or floating wide off much like I did with Andy Cole. Not that he has to be stuck in that role because he can also run beyond Anthony to get his goals too.

“I can see a good bond developing between the two and good connection.

“Of course both will like to score and they know as forwards they get judged on that but, as you saw against Sheffield United, Marcus looked just as pleased to have set Anthony up for two of his goals as well.

“The key is building on that understanding but also having the faith of the manager who looks to have said to them ‘you are my front two’ and given them their heads to go out and do it.”

Yorke went on to insist that Solskjaer is the perfect man to oversee Martial and Rashford's development due to his previous experience as a "top-level" striker.

He added: “You do not necessarily need that experience as a manager if you have played at a level like Ole has.

“He has been there and experienced what it is like at the very top level. He has remembered it, learned from it and is now implanting it himself. You can see that in his work with Anthony and Marcus.

“The first two goals from Anthony against Sheffield United were proper goal poaching goals like Ole enjoyed scoring himself.”