“He has the talent” - Rio Ferdinand names Manchester United attacker who would thrive alongside Cristiano Ronaldo up front

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes Marcus Rashford could form a great partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo for the Red Devils.

Rashford has established himself as a regular under Erik ten Hag this season, making 12 appearances across all competitions. However, he has managed to find the back of the net just five times despite mostly playing as a number 9.

Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, has found playing time hard to come by under the Dutch tactician. He has clocked just 691 minutes of action for Manchester United so far this campaign.

Ferdinand believes it will benefit both Rashford and Ronaldo if they start together for the Red Devils up front. He is of the view that the two forwards will form an 'unbelievable' partnership in attack. He said on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel:

"I think Rashford will be great with Cristiano Ronaldo, they'll be an unbelievable pair. I think if you could play two up there or if you play them off one of the sides, Rashford joining Cristiano and being an outside-to-inside wide player, running in behind, coming centrally from wide areas, I think he'd be magnificent at that as well."

Providing his thoughts on Rashford's performance in Manchester United's 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, Ferdinand said the Englishman played well. However, the Red Devils great pointed out that the 24-year-old is not a 'natural' goalscorer.

"I thought he did well today [Wednesday; ed.], everything other than scoring, but I don't think Marcus is a natural goalscorer. I don't think he is somebody who, all his career, has woken up and thought about scoring goals."

He added:

"Don't forget he was a wide player most of his time as a kid growing up, but I've seen players become sniffers and become out-and-out goalscorers. Wayne Rooney was one of those."

Ferdinand went on to claim that Rashford can follow in the footsteps of Wayne Rooney by honing himself to become a better goalscorer. He said:

"Wayne Rooney loved doing everything else outside scoring. He loved scoring, but he loved doing all the other pieces as well and then honed himself and became a goalscorer, that's why he broke all the records." Marcus can do that. I'm not saying he's a Wayne Rooney or anything, but I think he can become more of a goalscorer than he is with just a mindset."

The former defender also explained how Rashford could improve himself as a goalscorer. He concluded:

"Switching that mindset could be just about scoring goals sometimes because he does so much around scoring that he probably sometimes is lacking even just energy because he's putting so much elsewhere. I think that's just a flick of a switch inside and just a little adjustment in his game because he has the talent."

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Cristiano Ronaldo continues to grow frustrated at Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo failed in his efforts to seek a move away from Old Trafford in the summer. He has since found playing time hard to come by under Ten Hag, making just three Premier League starts so far.

The Portuguese icon remained an unused substitute in Manchester United's 2-0 win against Tottenham on Wednesday. He displayed his frustration by walking down the tunnel even before the final whistle.

It now remains to be seen how Manchester United boss Ten Hag will react to Cristiano Ronaldo's actions at Old Trafford.