Man Utd lining up £87m move to sign the “next Mbappe”

For those wanting to feel old, it’s now just over ten years since Marcus Rashford ‘burst onto the scene’ at Manchester United, having announced himself on that February night in the Europa League at Old Trafford.

A star was born in a matter of days as the teenager followed up his Midtjylland brace with another deadly double against Arsenal, true Roy of the Rovers stuff.

Injury had thrust the 18-year-old into the limelight, but boy did he take his chance, ultimately ending that season with an inclusion in England’s Euro 2016 squad, after previously netting on debut against Australia.

For all that has occurred since, it can’t be forgotten just what a fearless force Rashford was in his youthful pomp, with United now potentially eyeing something of a successor in that regard.

Man Utd rivalling Arsenal in race to sign £87m sensation

Events this week may well ensure that Rashford does actually return to Manchester this summer, with hopes of a permanent stay at Barcelona potentially dashed by Anthony Gordon’s impending move to Catalonia.

Once a club of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, the LaLiga giants have now moved for two England stars in successive summers, both of whom had hardly set the world alight prior to securing a dream switch. Go figure.

From United’s perspective, the feeling is that there is still little chance of Rashford being part of Michael Carrick‘s squad next season, even with the Red Devils crying out for reinforcements off the left flank, and through the middle.

INEOS would rather look to the future instead, it would seem, with talkSPORT revealing that both United and Arsenal are keeping tabs on Bournemouth sensation, Eli Junior Kroupi, following the 19-year-old’s own breakout year in the Premier League.

As per the report, the Cherries are still hopeful of keeping the teenager around for another season, while his €100m (£87m) release clause doesn’t come into effect until next summer.

Even so, both United and the Gunners appear to be lurking and have been credited with an interest, with the fleet-footed Frenchman perhaps the Premier League’s next superstar in the making.

Why Kroupi could be the next Rashford at Man Utd

From Michael Owen, to Robbie Fowler, to Wayne Rooney, to Rashford himself, the Premier League can often birth a teen sensation, the United man enjoying such a rich vein of form under Louis van Gaal in that 2015/16 season.

In just 18 games across all competitions, the academy graduate scored eight times, most notably leaving Martin Demichelis for dead before slotting home what proved to be the winner in his first Manchester derby.

A young ‘Rashy’ was such a breath of fresh air, so deadly in that left channel, with it certainly obvious to see the comparison to Kroupi, following the youngster’s own emergence at the Vitality Stadium.

Plucked from Ligue 2 side Lorient last summer, after netting 22 league goals, he has taken to Premier League life so smoothly, proving such a handful off the left or in a number nine role.

He may not have been the marquee arrival in a summer that saw a raft of high-profile strikers secure Premier League moves, but Kroupi has put many of them to shame, scoring 13 goals despite only starting 21 times for Andoni Iraola’s side.

Hailed as “the next [Kylian] Mbappe” by GOAL, it is the rate at which he has scored at which is so frightening, having netted a goal every 130 minutes, while boasting a 25% goal conversion.

Remarkably too, what also stands out is just how clinical he was, even despite his relative youth, the £87m-rated speedster only missing three ‘big chances’ all season.

For comparison, the £74m Benjamin Sesko, who scored 11 league goals in his debut campaign in England, missed 12 ‘big chances’ for United.

A supreme finisher, Kroupi has also delivered on the big occasion too, scoring home and away against both United and Arsenal, while also firing in what proved to be the decisive goal in the title race, as Bournemouth held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw.

In Rashford’s case, he too popped up against the league’s big boys in 15/16, after netting against the Gunners and City, having breathed new life into Van Gaal’s side at the time.

Under Carrick, the club appear on far more stable footing now, but adding another sparkling young talent into the mix, like Kroupi, could prove a masterstroke, not least due to his ability to feature all across the front line.

Midfield, it must be said, remains the priority at Old Trafford, but you can never have too many matchwinners.