Manchester United legend Dwight Yorke has hailed Marcus Rashford as the Red Devils' "best player", but insisted Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes are more important to the team as a whole.
Rashford has scored 16 goals in all competitions this season, with United seeking to mount an unlikely title challenge. One of those 16 strikes was the winner as Erik ten Hag's men claimed a comeback win over fierce rivals Manchester City on Saturday.
Yorke believes that Rashford's performances this season have confirmed his standing as his former club's best player. He slammed the Englishman's former managers for not getting the best out of him and insisted he is not surprised to see the 25-year-old thriving.
"I knew all along that he was the best player at United. I watched him close up on my course at the pro-license. I went there and saw a kind of talent I hadn’t seen for some time," Yorke said of Rashford to Marriott Bonvoy, the official hotel loyalty partner of Manchester United.
"Yes, he went through a period of time that was difficult for him and people started writing him off, but you listen to my interviews; I said he was easily the best but for some reason previous managers couldn’t get the best out of him. I think that was such a waste of time.
"I’m really happy that he’s getting the rewards now, but is it a surprise to me? No. Is it a surprise to other people? Maybe, yeah. But I know football too well and I know when I see someone close up what a special player he is.”
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While Yorke has no doubt about Rashford's status within the United squad, he insisted two other players are more important to the success of Ten Hag's team. The first of those is Casemiro, who joined from Real Madrid in the summer in a deal worth £70million.
"Casemiro’s resume is unbelievable and what he’s achieved at Real Madrid, you can’t really fault him. You don’t play at that level if you’re not a good player. The one question mark was his age, coming up to 31," Yorke added.
"Then, obviously, there was the size of the fee for a player coming to the Premier League, that has a greater intensity to La Liga. That might have been a challenge. But like I say, when you’re a good player, you come in and you embrace the club.
"Casemiro has done that better than most. That’s why the transition has been easy for him and that’s why he has become one of the key ingredients of the team."
Yorke also picked out Fernandes for playing a key role, with the midfielder captaining United for much of the season. He believes that keeping the Portuguese and Casemiro fit could lead to a successful campaign for the Red Devils.
"Fernandes can score goals and, obviously, he is very creative in terms of that. What went away for Bruno, and what has come back, is his enjoyment of playing football," Yorke said.
"But once he started to enjoy his football, we’ve seen again the best of Bruno Fernandes. And I think for a period of time, he wasn’t enjoying playing. When he came to United, his record was incredible.
"He’s getting back to somewhere along those lines. Keeping Casemiro and Bruno fit will be key to the club’s success this season."
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