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Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford already has more goals this season (27) than in the previous two campaigns combined (26). April isn’t here yet and Rashford is breaking personal records that seemed like a pipe dream in the midst of his struggles last year.

His renaissance has been truly remarkable and he is playing some of the best football of his career with Erik ten Hag at the helm. Rashford is back at what makes him a special talent. He is playing again with unbridled confidence, going up against the opposition on instinct and the results speak for themselves as he is the fittest striker in Europe.

In a team lacking a varied source of goals, Rashford more than delivered and delivered on his part of the bargain. His goals have been instrumental in the Reds’ rise up the Premier League table and throughout the Europa League campaign.

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The last United player to reach the 30-goal mark in a season was Robin van Persie in 2012/13, which was his memorable debut year at Old Trafford, and Rashford looks confident of matching that tally by the end of next month. . .

So what’s next? Champions League qualification appears to be assured, but the Europa League and FA Cup remain realistic paths to trophies and Rashford’s maintaining his form for the remainder of the season will be crucial in those competitions.

That will be the player’s priority, but Ten Hag, speaking in early February, challenged him to get between ’30 and 35 goals’ and the latest account is likely to have been pinpointed by an ambitious player who currently can’t seem to do much. . mistaken.

Regardless of what happens at the end of the season, Rashford will look back on this season fondly, as he is guaranteed to enjoy his summer vacation after the best year of his professional career.

However, when he returns for preseason after that break, his challenge will be to replicate the same high-level performances. Most elite players are defined by their consistency, and that’s the obvious next step for Rashford.

The 25-year-old will set his own goals and, in fact, could privately harbor ambitions of becoming the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, which doesn’t seem entirely out of the question, despite being a daunting task. .

Rashford already has 120 goals for United and Rooney, who is the club’s top scorer, has 253, meaning the Wythenshawe-born lad would need to score around 17 goals a season for around eight years to break it.

Rooney also told The Times this week that he would “love” Rashford to take his record: “I know Sir Bobby Charlton was actually a bit sad when I broke his England record and then his Manchester all-time scoring record. United too.

“I could see that it meant a lot to him. I just know that I feel great that Harry (Kane) has done this and I would love it if Marcus Rashford took my United record from me. For me, records are great when you have them, but always They are there to be broken.”

Harry Kane became England’s top scorer against Italy on Thursday night. He, too, became Tottenham’s top scorer in February and Rashford could look to his Three Lions team-mate for inspiration for his future at Old Trafford.

Rashford graduated from the academy, supported the club as a child and is happily established in the area. It would feel strange to some fans to see him represent another side and the longer he sticks around, the closer he gets to Rooney’s record.

It might take a decade to crack, but Rashford setting that goal privately in his career wouldn’t hurt.

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