Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino believes Marcus Rashford has to be more consistent in front of goal to justify his new mega-money Manchester United contract.
The Red Devils are set to offer Rashford a new £375,000 per-week contract to stay at Old Trafford this summer. He has just completed the finest season of his career to date, scoring 30 goals for United as they finished third in the Premier League and won the Carabao Cup.
United are keen to tie Rashford, who found the net just five times during the 2021-22 campaign, down to a new long-term contract following his revival under Ten Hag. Rashford is expected to replace David de Gea as the club's highest earner - whether or not the Spaniard decides to stay at United.
De Gea is out of contract this summer but is locked in talks over a new deal, which is reported to be £200k a week. Rashford, however, is set to be rewarded for a fine campaign but Cascarino is unsure about whether he deserves his new contract.
Speaking on Weekend Sports Breakfast, Cascarino said: "Look, he’s a very talented lad. He went through a number of injuries and had problems off the pitch which he seems to have resolved but now he’s set the standard of what he’s capable of.
"If you go three or four years down the line and we’re talking about Marcus Rashford, do we expect him to get near the 200 club? At the moment he’s got 128 goals and 76 Premier League goals.
"Can he get to 150 Premier League goals in the next three or four years? I’m not sure he’s capable of it. I haven’t seen enough evidence. He hasn’t achieved 20 once in the Premier League."
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Rashford predominately played on the left-hand side last season with either Cristiano Ronaldo, Wout Weghorst or Anthony Martial down the middle. However, he often had to drop into the centre forward position when required.
Cascarino added: "There will be people who say that he doesn’t play down the middle as he plays off the left, but Ronaldo was off the left and in the middle and his record of how quickly he got to 100 goals was pretty alarming.
"Rashford had a fantastic season this year. The season that’s just finished, 30 goals and 17 Premier League goals, but do you think you’d want to pay £375,000-a-week for someone who has had their best season at 25 years old and played very well and looks like a different player this year.
"He looks way more clinical than he has done, but I still am not totally convinced about Marcus’s ability to lead the line at United for the next two or three years. He has to have the season that he had this year and that has to be the minimum."
