Michael Owen believes Marcus Rashford must showcase his scoring touch for the long run, if he is to become the first-choice striker at Manchester United for years to come. The England international has been handed a regular role upfront since the temporary appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in December and this has paid dividends with him scoring six times from the nine league matches played.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Owen believes the youngster is making progress towards becoming a world class player with the improvement shown with the finishing which was not the case earlier in the campaign, he said: “He’s looking more and more world class as we go on really, isn’t he? He’s a top player.

“He’s got great feet, great skill, great pace and if you can finish as well, then it’s just a lethal combination. He’s starting to score a few goals because that’s the one area, if he’s going to be a Manchester United centre forward, the Manchester United centre forward, then you need to be scoring bags of goals and that’s the one area he probably needs to keep improving on.”

“Rashford’s form over the past few weeks has dropped Romelu Lukaku to the bench and the status could remain the same for the forthcoming round of matches“, given the latter has struggled to make the most of the opportunities from the starting lineup. Meanwhile, recent reports have indicated that the Mancunian giants have begun discussions regarding a new contract with their graduate “amid the form displayed“ over the past few weeks under Ole.

Rashford has previously been reluctant to pen an extension after the reduced gametime with Jose Mourinho but the club are more confident of finding the breakthrough, now that he has become a vital figure from the starting lineup. The 21-year-old has 17 months left on his current contract with the option of a further year.