Andy Cole believes that Marcus Rashford might have to move away from Manchester United if he wants to win trophies.
Cole, a former United striker who was part of the 1999 treble-winning team, was speaking ahead of the Manchester derby.
Rashford has been in excellent form this season after two years of struggling compared to his breakout performances, and with Cristiano Ronaldo now at Al Nassr, he is United’s biggest goalscoring threat.
However, he is out of contract the summer after next, and he has been linked with moves to Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, with the French club openly keen to land him on a free transfer if possible.
Cole believes that if Rashord wants to win the Champions League, he might think he has a better chance of doing so at the Parc des Princes.
He told Casinos EnLigne: “If you look at the last two seasons Marcus has really found it very difficult for whatever reason and he’s not been the player who broke into the United team and took the Premier League by storm. But this year you’re starting to see him back to his best.
“Could his head be turned? I honestly believe any player’s head could be turned. Casemiro coming to United from Real Madrid was a deal not many would’ve imagined but that happened, so in football anything is possible and I wouldn’t be surprised. He’ll want to win the Champions League and he might think leaving United will give him a better chance.”
United are in the market for a new striker, with Wout Weghorst, on loan at Besiktas from Burnley, the frontrunner, but Cole has dismissed the idea, as well as other strikers linked to Old Trafford, such as former United forward Memphis Depay at Barcelona, and Chelsea’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
He added: “Memphis Depay is one that would really surprise me if it gets done. He came to United when he was a youngster and it didn’t work out then so you’ve got to say if it did happen what makes you think it’s going to work out this time? There’s the Dutch connection now with the manager and while this is all hypothetical you’ve got to be concerned that history could repeat itself.
“When I heard about Weghorst I was as surprised as anybody. I know he got a couple of goals in the World Cup and he’s on loan in Turkey now but he had an absolutely terrible time at Burnley. You can only say if he had such a tough time at Burnley what can we really expect if he comes to Manchester United?
“In the current climate with the way Aubameyang is struggling at the moment, which I’m very surprised he has done by the way, I can’t see it. I’m still very surprised United are looking to bring players in on loan. I think Man Utd’s best loan player ever, that they should’ve taken on permanently, was Henrik Larsson. That was a phenomenal loan move but when you look at all the loan deals since then, none of them have really worked."