Louis Saha rates Cristiano Ronaldo's chances of remaining Man Utd's first-choice striker

Cristiano Ronaldo remains ‘the main guy’ at Manchester United and will finish the season as Ralf Rangnick’s first choice option up front, says former teammate Louis Saha.

The Portuguese legend has scored some pivotal goals for United this season after his grand return to Old Trafford in the summer but has just one in his last 10 appearances in all competitions.

The 37-year-old missed United’s derby defeat to Manchester City on Sunday due to a hip problem. The striker did not make the short trip across town to watch his teammates in action and instead flew home to Portugal, a move that reportedly surprised his teammates.

With Ronaldo misfiring and Edinson Cavani struggling for fitness, Anthony Elanga has offered some hope, scoring a crucial equaliser in the Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid.

But Saha warns neither the young Swede or Marcus Rashford can be expected to take Ronaldo’s place in the side.

‘You can have rotation, sure. But Cristiano Ronaldo is still the main guy,’ Saha told Metro.co.uk on behalf of FreeBets.com.

‘If this team is thinking about putting someone else up there… I like what Elanga is providing, it reminds me a bit of what Marcus Rashford was back in the day when he came through, he wasn’t overthinking, he was just trying to outwork and outrun people.

‘But scoring important goals week in week out is very different. Telling a young player they are going to start up front against Chelsea or Arsenal and telling them we need you to score the goals, that is a different thing.

‘With all respect, his [Elanga’s] education is about watching this monster [Ronaldo] and learning from him. And I don’t think he is ready to do that just yet.

‘Even Rashford is not at this level. These players turn it on