England manager Gareth Southgate has backed Marcus Rashford to have a similar impact for club and country to the likes of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen.
Both Rooney and Owen became integral parts of the England team in their teenage years before going on to finish their careers first and fifth respectively in the all-time goalscorers list for their country.
Rashford scored the winner against Slovakia on his first Wembley start for the Three Lions on Monday, and Southgate believes that the Manchester United youngster is on the right path to emulate two of England's greatest strikers in recent generations.
"I am sure from his point of view he would rather be compared to them than not. He is obviously a different type of player. He is as mature as they were in terms of their understanding of the game and the way he picks concepts up," Southgate told reporters.
"But, yeah, it is up to him now. He has a great platform to build from, he has a really good influence at his club in terms of Jose Mourinho to keep him grounded, and we'll do the same here. When Ryan Giggs was working as United's assistant manager, Marcus had just broken into the team and we were deciding which age group to put him with.
"We felt maybe putting him in the U21s straight away would put too much spotlight on him, so I think the club were grateful for that, but then Roy [Hodgson] picked him for the seniors about two months later! So that plan was out the window but you can also see why because, blimey, the impact he had at the time and then immediately with England was fantastic."
Rashford has now scored two goals in 11 appearances for England.
Barney Corkhill
