Rio Ferdinand gives Marcus Rashford verdict as he reveals change in the Manchester United star

Rio Ferdinand has praised Marcus Rashford following his goal against Barcelona on Thursday, claiming the Manchester United forward has found a level of consistency he had not shown in his career prior to this season.

The attacker netted his 22nd club strike of the season in the 52nd minute of his side’s 2-2 draw with the La Liga leaders in the first leg of their Europa League play-off clash. He also produced the cross that led to Jules Kounde scoring an own goal seven minutes later.

He has now equalled his best-ever scoring return in a single campaign with four months to go until the end of the season. Ferdinand is amazed by his form and listed six aspects of the 25-year-old's game that are making him an unstoppable force at United right now.

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Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “@MarcusRashford is on smoke. He is on a new level, a level he hasn’t been at until now, a level of consistency he hasn’t been able to stay at until now. A fit, focused, direct, confident, deadly and potent Rashford is not to be messed with!”

Speaking after the game, Rashford detailed that he was disappointed with only getting a draw against Barcelona ahead of next week’s second leg at Old Trafford. He said: "It feels like a loss. I think we did well to get back into the game, the first half was probably in favour of them.

"I felt we were going for it and trying to score goals. It's difficult to find an angle to finish from there [his goal] so I just made my mind up and tried to get as clean contact as I could, so luckily it went in.

"You have to expect them to [fight back]. They've got a lot of top players, high-quality players and if you give them time on the ball, they're going to hurt you and it's as