Rashford does not want to just be a number 9

Manchester United's Marcus Rashford insists he wants to be "the ultimate forward" instead of being pigeonholed as an out-and-out striker.

Rashford was on target in pre-season friendlies against Perth Glory and Leeds United earlier in July but has not scored in three appearances since. He and Jesse Lingard were particularly profligate in a 1-0 friendly win over Kristiansund on Tuesday, which was settled by Juan Mata's controversial stoppage-time penalty. But Rashford said it is a team effort up front and believes that if his side are to be successful this season, goals will need to come from a variety of sources.

 

July 31, 2019

"It's never been my aim to be a No.9," Rashford told reporters. "It's about being able to adapt and play in different positions and to be the ultimate forward. I think I can score goals from all positions and I think that's something that's shared among the forwards. That's important. If one person is scoring all the goals, you get a different feeling as a team than if all the forwards are contributing. It's definitely a good feeling and it keeps us all on our toes."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men have won all of their pre-season friendlies and, while Rashford acknowledged he can make more of an impact, he is encouraged by the club's progression.

"We've still got a lot of work to do, but we're improving in training every day," he added. "It feels like the team is improving, which is the most important thing. We're concentrating on ourselves and keep trying to take steps forward. I can still sharpen up a bit more. That's normal. It's more about wanting to get the right amount of workload in. Fitness has improved and the patterns of play we've been working on are starting to come out in the games. That's the important thing."