Is Rashford the new Kane? Time for United to find out

Manchester United produce great players. not great strikers. not lately. Great strikers, they buy. this may be why uncertainty continues to surround Marcus rashford.

It should be his job to lead the line at United next year, the way the position fell to harry Kane at tottenham. rashford went more than six months without a league goal this season, but spent a lot of that spell playing wide, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s foil.

We know what happens in those circumstances. Ibrahimovic takes up position a. Ibrahimovic is the target. and rashford has started only 14 league games under Jose Mourinho; fewer than Marouane Fellaini and Jesse Lingard, the same number as Michael carrick and Phil Jones.

Given a start, centrally, against chelsea he was magnificent. the next game he was wide again — but scored the winner when Ibrahimovic went off — the game after he was rested. any inconsistencies in his play are hardly without mitigation.

so what next for rashford? What if United, as they always do, buy a striker? antoine Griezmann could be magnificent for United but not if his arrival forces rashford inevitably into a secondary role, or to the flank again. Griezmann began as a wide forward, perfect for rashford, but this season 37 of his 47 starts for atletico Madrid have been at centre forward.

It is not as if Griezmann is at a similar stage in his career to Ibrahimovic, either. he is 26. he could be Manchester United’s main man for five years. how long before rashford (right) gets the proper chance that Kane, say, was given?

Mark hughes was the last homegrown player to be Manchester United’s top goalscorer, and even that achievement comes with a caveat. hughes was produced by United, certainly, but the last season he was top goalscorer was 1992-93, having been sold and then bought back from Barcelona, after a period at Bayern Munich on loan. Meaning a player with rashford’s pathway — youth team to first team, only with United — has not topped the charts since hughes again, 1985-86, before his move to the nou camp. It is 31 years since United produced a player with rashford’s potential as a goalscorer. Danny Welbeck was good, but never trusted to be the match-winner, and the rest are buys. Wayne rooney, robin van Persie, andy cole, Dwight Yorke —

MIKE ASHLEY says the biggest mistake he made as owner of newcastle was in the summer of 2012. The club had finished fifth under Alan pardew, who wanted money to improve the squad. Ashley thought it wiser to stay loyal to the players who had done so well and let them build on their success.

With the exception of £6.7million to Ajax for vurnon Anita, the club barely spent. The next season they fought relegation and finished 16th.

Ashley had fallen into the trap of so many, thinking that — at worst — the club would stand still. nobody stands still in football because others below are investing and moving up.

Chelsea finished one place below newcastle in 2012. That summer, they bought eden Hazard, Cesar Azpilicueta, Oscar and victor Moses. Finishing 13 places ahead the next United buy goals. All the biggest clubs do. Goals are too important to be left to youth, it seems.

Barcelona have Lionel Messi, but in his time still bought Luis Suarez, neymar, Samuel eto’o and Thierry Henry. The presence of Thomas Muller did not stop Bayern Munich recruiting Robert Lewandowski, and now only one of them is the striker.

The serious injury to ibrahimovic means United will have to move for a forward this summer, whether Griezmann or an alternative, or both. Yet the impact for Rashford depends on how they line up next season.

Will Griezmann play as a wider forward or will he be central? Do United have the faith to make Rashford their Kane or Hughes; or will he end up just a better class of Danny Welbeck? season, then, can hardly be considered a surprise. it was also the summer that West Brom secured Romelu Lukaku on loan and Aston villa bought Christian Benteke — both finished ahead of newcastle.

So, while Rafa Benitez likes to get the politics in early, he surely will not have to push too hard for Ashley to invest in creating a premier League squad this summer. With just about all space north of the M62 to themselves in the premier League next season, promotion is a fabulous opportunity for newcastle.

in Benitez they have an outstanding manager who, given good players, could even bring the club their first trophy of worth since 1969. Before, Ashley could blame errors on inexperience. now he knows better. There can be no excuses if newcastle fail to capitalise on this good thing.