Robin van Persie, Paul Scholes praise ‘unique talent’ Marcus Rashford after scoring run for Manchester United

Robin van Persie has praised Marcus Rashford as a “unique talent” who can now “do the job” against any opponent.

Rashford is enjoying the best season of his career with 24 goals in all competitions for Manchester United.

He has been especially prolific since the restart after the World Cup, scoring 16 times, four more than the next highest scorer in Europe’s top-five leagues, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema.

“Rashford is a unique talent,” said former Manchester United and Arsenal forward Van Persie on BT Sport.

“You could see that in the Premier League at an early age. He is now at a stage where it doesn’t matter who he is playing, if it’s Barcelona, or in England, or a cup game, he can trust his own qualities.

“He is physically very strong, mentally he is very confident, that is connected as well to [manager] Erik ten Hag because he gives him the confidence and the stage, so for him it’s just a matter of being fit, enjoy the game, it doesn’t matter against who, he will do the job.”

Rashford burst onto the scene in 2016 when he became United’s youngest-ever scorer in European competition.

But his level dropped at times over the last two seasons and former United midfielder Paul Scholes says he deserves credit for bouncing back so impressively.

Scholes said: “Marcus took a lot of criticism for a couple of years before this year where he has found his form, and he was getting that criticism because everybody knew how good he was and the potential he has.

“He is now starting to show that and all credit to him, he has turned his game around. He looks unstoppable and unplayable.

“You look at his physique, he has speed, great movement, whether he plays on the left or through the middle, and his finishing has come on unbelievably. He was a little bit rash at times, a bit panicky in some situations, but he’s now calming himself down and making the right finish and scoring lots of goals.

Ex-Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves says United boss Ten Hag is helping Rashford show he is a “world-class player”.

Hargreaves said: “Ten Hag is doing an amazing job, first of all with his confidence, but he’s also playing him in multiple positions, he’s moving him around.

“It looks like he is running downhill, it’s too easy for him. His finishing is there, his confidence is there. Rashford from his talent is a world-class player.”