Marcus Rashford has shared that Wayne Rooney is actively encouraging him to surpass his record for the most goals scored at Manchester United.
Wayne Rooney currently holds the top spot as the all-time leading scorer at Old Trafford with a remarkable 253 goals. However, with Marcus Rashford having recently inked a new five-year contract, the 25-year-old forward seems poised to eventually surpass that milestone.
Rashford’s exceptional performance last season, during which he netted 30 goals – his most prolific season yet – propelled his total to 123 goals.
With manager Erik ten Hag seemingly helping Rashford reach his peak potential, it appears more goals are on the horizon for the talented player.
Marcus Rashford Exclusive with Gary Neville 👹
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And Rashford says the man whose record he wants to take is cheering him on.
Asked by Gary Neville on the Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet, whether he can surpass Rooney’s record, he said: “Hopefully I will.
“You never know what’s going to happen, but I’m all about scoring goals and trying to make assists. There’s definitely a chance that it can happen.
“I’ve actually spoken to Wazza about it – he wants me to do it.
“He said it would be good for me to do it as I’ve grown up at the club. Hopefully I get the opportunity to try and make it happen.”
After such a prolific season last term, Rashford believes he could hit 40 goals if he can stay fit in the forthcoming season.
“Before last season, I always said let’s get to 20 – for a winger a good benchmark,” he added. “But this season, I’ve hit 30 so we have to try and push it now and go above and beyond.
“Towards the end of the season, I was struggling with a few injuries, and I probably wasn’t quite at it – that’s when the goals started to dry up a little bit.
“If I can keep that side of it under taps, I feel like I can go on and get 35 or 40.”
Under the firm leadership of Erik ten Hag, Manchester United appears to be in a favorable position to rekindle their competitive spirit.
Rashford experienced the firm discipline of Ten Hag during the previous season when he was excluded from the starting lineup for a match against Wolves due to arriving late for a team meeting.
Although he later came on as a substitute and scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 win, Rashford disclosed that his tardiness amounted to just one minute.
“I learned from pre-season, a couple of the lads were late and it was important to implement his rules there and then,” said Rashford, who also “100 per cent” agreed with Ten Hag’s decision.
“I wasn’t even that late – I don’t think he was being harsh, late is late – but it was probably about 45 seconds, a minute late.
“I already knew what was going to happen because of the rules he implemented in pre-season.
“I am not going to sit and argue about it, because we’ve got a game to win. There is a time and place to speak to him, but if we win the game nobody really cares.”