Could Marcus Rashford be a Cristiano Ronaldo figure for England? Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate believes the Manchester United youngster is a “special talent” and has likened him to the Juventus and Portugal star, even pointing out that the 20-year-old is better in front of goal than Ronaldo was at that tender age. Rashford scored the winning goal for England against Switzerland on Tuesday, making it three home internationals in row with a goal for the youngster.
And while Southgate knows that there is still plenty of room to improve, he is impressed with the amount of game time Rashford is seeing and believes the youngster can develop into one of the top players in the world. “He is a special talent,” the England manager said. “Some of the step-overs and things Ronaldo was doing at that age [were remarkable], but Ronaldo wasn’t converting them into the same number of goals. “So we have got to give Marcus time to develop. “He has still played a lot of football, although maybe not the continuous starts, and I’m really pleased for him that he leaves here full of confidence.” Rashford has indeed out-paced Ronaldo’s early production with Manchester United, outscoring the former No. 7 in a direct comparison of the pair’s first three seasons at Old Trafford. The England international netted 32 times in 123 games in that period, while Ronaldo managed 27 in 137 outings.
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