Premier League News

Ronaldo: Marcus Rashford reminds me of me

Brazil great Ronaldo has compared the Manchester United teenage striker to himself in his early playing days.

By admin

Former Brazil striker Ronaldo has admitted to similarities between himself at the start of his career and Manchester United’s sensation Marcus Rashford.

marcus rashford manchester united ronaldo

Young Rashford has taken Old Trafford by storm in the second half of this season, scoring important goals including four in his opening four appearances for the club.

From an unknown quantity to one of the most exciting young players in the Premier League, the young Englishman is already being tipped to become a Man United legend.

His explosive start has drawn praise from Ronaldo, who says he was a lot like the teenager as he took the first steps to becoming one of the world’s top marksmen.

Star on the rise: Rashford’s skills and goals for Utd

[youtube id=”yWIyrBCOh1A” grow=”yes”]

“He’s a very good young player. I see some of myself in him for sure – he has courage and he’s fast and is very good with the ball,” Ronaldo told SunSport.

“I think for the strikers they have to be hungry to score and I see that with him. He has an amazing future.”

The legendary Brazilian also discussed England’s chances at Euro 2016, and believes Roy Hodgson’s men have a great chance of winning the trophy whether Rashford is included or not.

“In the qualifiers they had 10 matches and 10 victories. I think England are the favourites to win. You have the best qualifying performance,” he continued.

ronaldo brazil rashford

“I would love to see England win. In England people love football so much, you deserve to win with the national team.”

Entry into the England senior squad aside, the young striker might have to bid his time before he is considered an automatic starter for for  the country’s junior teams.

Speaking ahead of England’s under-21 clash against Switzerland back in match, under-21s manager Gareth Southgate cautioned against fast-tracking Rashford into the team as it could affect his development.

“Probably the top talents in the world get into first teams very young and establish themselves very young,” said Southgate.

duncan-watmore-run-southgate

“We are very conscious that, when you promote a young player too quickly, there can be fallout from that and, at times, the right thing is to move them back down and that is always more difficult.

“Life is very different for someone like Marcus, who has just scored the winner in a Manchester derby.

“At club level, at some point, he might find himself in their under-21s side and that is a difficult process to deal with, so we don’t want to add to that internationally.

“Let’s assess his progress. There is no rush. Roy [Hodgson, the England manager] has got a very settled squad and is very strong in that area of the pitch.

Marcus-Rashford

“Everyone I speak to at United says he’s very level-headed so they don’t have concerns about his mentality but, of course, his world has changed dramatically in the last few weeks.”