Times journalist Tony Cascarino believes Marcus Rashford has leapfrogged Romelu Lukaku as the permanent option to lead the line for Manchester United.

The Red Devils had relied on Lukaku to produce the goods upfront during the opening months of the campaign but that stance has changed in recent weeks with Marcus Rashford getting a regular run ahead of him.

In a report covered by The Times, Cascarino highlighted that United are more dependent on Rashford to make the difference upfront, given they feel the England international has the potential to become the complete player, he penned: “There is a great belief at United at the moment and I feel that Rashford has grown up a lot in a month.

“It feels as though he is going to be a complete player if he becomes more clinical. He is United’s No 1 forward now and Romelu Lukaku won’t get near the starting 11. Rashford could go through a barren run and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would stick by him. Lukaku will be the £90 million misfit for the rest of the season.”

Lukaku had been the go-to man for the Red Devils during the previous campaign where he managed 27 goals for the club across all competitions. However, he has yet to reach double figures this term after scoring just nine times and his fortunes may not change any sooner, given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been reluctant to hand him a starting role ahead of Rashford.

Elsewhere, Rashford has netted six times during the past eight league matches under Ole and one of those came during the slender 1-0 triumph over Leicester City. The Englishman has had the tendency of squandering clear-cut chances with poor finishing but he has managed to make amends on more occasions than not when compared to Lukaku.