Manchester United

Michael Owen: 'Manchester United better with Marcus Rashford'

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 05 May 2017

Michael Owen says that Manchester United "will score a lot more" goals with Marcus Rashford leading their line, rather than Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Michael Owen has claimed that Manchester United "will score a lot more" goals with Marcus Rashford leading their line, rather than experienced forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Ibrahimovic scored 28 times in 46 appearances for Man United before picking up a season-ending knee injury in the Europa League against Anderlecht last month.

Rashford has since been handed the starting forward role for the Red Devils, and the 19-year-old netted his 10th goal of the campaign in Thursday night's 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo in the Europa League.

Owen, who represented Man United between 2009 and 2012, has said that Ibrahimovic "will always score a few more goals", but Rashford is the better option for the team.

"I think if you ask his teammates, they would probably prefer to play with Rashford upfront. He just gives them options. Zlatan will always score a few more goals than Rashford if they both started every week together," Owen told BT Sport.

"But I think the team will score a lot more with Rashford in the team [on his own]. The overriding factor is that I think Rashford's here to stay."

Rashford has scored five times in 29 Premier League appearances for Man United this season.