Owen singles out Man Utd star as 'weak link' after summer transfer blow

Michael Owen has described Marcus Rashford as 'the weak link' in Manchester United's struggling forward line.

Rashford is back in the fold at Old Trafford following successive loan spells away, which saw him go more than 18 months without playing for his boyhood club. He was handed the No.9 shirt this term and been regularly called upon by Michael Carrick.

However, the England international, amid the odd moment of quality, is yet to register a single goal or assist in over 400 minutes of football in all competitions. United have scored eight times in five games, but five of those goals came in one game.

Rashford, alongside the likes of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, is struggling to consistently impact games - but Owen has singled out Rashford as the biggest under performer.

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The ex-Liverpool striker said on Premier League Productions: "On the left, Marcus Rashford has been probably the quietest of those attackers. He was quiet again today in his body language, just the glum face. He just doesn’t seem to be loving his football which has been a permanent frustration with Marcus.

"It does look like the weight of the world is on his shoulders and you just think how? Why? He’s living everybody’s dream. Surely there’s something behind the scenes that is making him look as if he’s not enjoying his football at the moment."

Rashford came back to Manchester off the back of his season in Spain with Barcelona and with Ruben Amorim, whom he clashed with, no longer at the helm, which presented a way back.

Owen concedes that the Catalans' decision to not activate the purchase option in Rashford's loan agreement and instead spend nearly three times as much to sign compatriot Anthony Gordon was a telling sign that there clearly were doubts.

"Last chance saloon was Barcelona," he said. "I couldn’t believe his luck in getting a team like Barcelona. He does reasonably well out there, but not well enough for them to keep him and then they end up spending fortunes to replace him by buying Anthony Gordon.

"So, it wasn’t all perfect. It wasn’t all rosy despite any spin that people put on it. And then he comes back to Manchester United. He’s done okay, but only okay.

"There’s a bit of a demand for Benjamin Sesko to come back in and start, injury permitting of course. But if that happens, Cunha is going to go on the left and Rashford would be the weak link in that attack as things stand."