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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Dimitar Berbatov makes Marcus Rashford prediction at Manchester United

Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has backed Marcus Rashford to continue going from strength to strength, following an impressive debut campaign under Erik ten Hag so far.

Rashford, who scored three times for England at the World Cup in Qatar towards the end of last year, has been in devastating form this season, netting 21 goals in all competitions for United. He has also registered a very respectable eight assists.

The academy graduate continued his stellar run of form in Sunday's 2-0 win over Leeds at Elland Road, planting a firm header past goalkeeper Illan Meslier for the second time in the space of just five days. He has been sensational since returning from the World Cup in December, scoring 13 goals in 15 matches.

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His career, following a difficult period last season, has been resurrected by Ten Hag, who has frequently addressed his beliefs that he can turn the 25-year-old into one of the best attackers in the world. And with time on his side, Berbatov, who plundered 56 goals in 149 games for United, insisted Rashford has the necessary qualities to get even better.

"Marcus Rashford is 25 and has a lot of football ahead of him," Berbatov told Betfred. "It seems as if he's been at Manchester United for ages because he's been there since he was a kid in United's academy.

"It's an even greater story to have a player from the academy shine and perform in the way that Marcus has been performing on the pitch. I've always liked Marcus and I'm very happy for him.

"He has the ability to terrorise defenders, and not as a typical centre-forward because he isn't one, but he's capable with his speed and movement of going past defenders, getting in behind the defence and getting on the end of good passes from his teammates. He's also great in one-on-one scenarios with the tricks and skills that he possesses.

"Everything's working so well for him at the moment and I believe he deserves all the success he's been getting. We've seen him score two headers in the past week and personally I believe this is a skill which he should develop even more.

"It's cliché, but if he can stay healthy and remain injury free, because quick players can be more prone to muscle injuries, then he has all the tools to become even better because he's only 25."

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