Pat Nevin feels that Manchester United first team newcomer Marcus Rashford "has all the signs" of being able to make a more long-term impact but like many young players it is too early to tell.
The 18-year-old striker followed up his double last Thursday with another brace against Arsenal yesterday, prompting questions about how good he could become in the future.
"Big clubs when a player comes on that young and has that extraordinary effect is really unusual. So it's brilliant and it's timeless but it's unusual as well," Pat told Off The Ball tonight.
"He's got a great goalscoring record at youth level as well so all the signs are there. But I go back to Januzaj. The signs for him when he walked into that Manchester United team were extraordinary. He looked like a better technical footballer than Rashford looks just now. He actually looked much better but look what's happened. It's hit the buffers. He's still a very good player, Januzaj, but certainly nowhere near the standards you expected to happen."
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, left, holds off the chllenge of Arsenal's Gabriel during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
"But it's one of those ones where I don't expect it to happen immediately the way it did with Wayne Rooney. Because since the age of 10, 11, 12 at Everton, everybody knew. Rashford's not kinda like that. People thought he was quite good but now a lot of people come out and say 'oh yes, I knew all along'. But really, he's not one of those ones like Rooney where that was a stick-on," he said.
But in many ways, Pat feels the real story of the game was how Arsenal let a real opportunity slip against a depleted Man United.
"There is a bit of a same old-same old Arsenal," he said, while highlighting the "grit" shown by Tottenham.
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