In the 2022/23 campaign, the world got to witness the best of Marcus Rashford at Manchester United, so they now need to repay him for a fabulous season by getting him a top strike partner.
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The 25-year-old played like a player with a point to prove last season. The previous campaign had been a disastrous one, not only for him but also for the club. However, under Erik ten Hag, the Manchester-born attacker was able to illustrate his capabilities to be a world-class player as he bagged a career best 30 goals in all competitions for the record Premier League champions.
A caveat to that is that most of those strikes came when Rashford was played on the left-hand side of attack, according to Transfermarkt, utilising his pace, skill, and directness to cut inside and wreak havoc for opposition defences. While he got 16 of his goals playing off the left flank, he also proved relatively effective for United playing as an out-and-out striker. The statistics website claims that the Red Devils academy graduate was able to bag 11 goals when playing as a centre-forward, but while these may be impressive figures, Rashford never passed the eye test when he was played as a striker.
The FA Cup final was a perfect illustration of this. The attacker started up front for the Dutch tactician against crosstown rivals Manchester City, but was a non-factor throughout the game. That is not a criticism of Rashford because the whole United team played poorly in that encounter, but whenever he did get the ball, he did not threaten. Even with the types of runs he made. He would get to the edge of the box and pass it off to Jadon Sancho or Alejandro Garnacho and instead of running into the 18 area after the lay-off, he would stay on the periphery of the penalty area. When you compare him to somebody like Erling Haaland, somebody who is at his liveliest in the box, Rashford pales in comparison, and because of that, the 20-time English champions need to bring in a striker as soon as possible.
Rasmus Hojlund of Atalanta is the player claimed to be United's prime target for the striker position at the time of writing, but given his age, there may be reservations as to whether or not he will be able to contribute in large parts to a potential Premier League title contender. However, given how Ten Hag's other signings have worked out, there should be optimism about how the Denmark international could contribute, especially with the 20-year-old having scored 16 goals for La Dea in 2022/23 and likely to only get better.
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Even if Hojlund does not hit the ground running immediately in terms of goals, he will most likely provide more than Wout Weghorst did. What the burly Dutch forward lacked in goalscoring prowess, he made up for with his hold-up play and pressing, and it was these attributes that accentuated Rashford's ability to find the back of the net last season. After Weghorst's arrival in January this year, the Englishman really began to hit top form, so United will do well to sign a quality striker as it could potentially see them once again challenge for league honours.
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