Marcus Rashford ready to become a leader for Manchester United

Marcus Rashford is ready to take the "next step" and become the leader of Manchester United's attack following Romelu Lukaku's departure to Inter Milan.

Lukaku joined the Nerazzurri on Thursday in a £74m deal and United opted not to replace the Belgium international, who scored 41 times over the past two seasons.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will instead hope for greater contributions from Rashford, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez, as well as the continued emergence of 17-year-old Mason Greenwood.

Rashford has scored 13 goals in each of the past two seasons but the 21-year-old feels ready to shoulder more of the scoring responsibility going into his fifth season as a first-team player.

"For me it's just about becoming the guy that's responsible and reliable," Rashford said ahead of United's Premier League opener against Chelsea on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

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"I feel like that's the next step for me. Everything goes in order of the way it should be done.

"I remember these similar steps when I first went into the Under-18s and it takes you a season to grow into that standard of football.

"Before you know it, you're one of the leaders there and you take responsibility on the pitch. Now I'm in that situation for the first team."

United spent £148m on three players this summer, bolstering their defence with the signings of Harry Maguire (£80m) and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£50m), while also bringing in winger Daniel James from Swansea for £18m.

Questions remain however over United's depth in midfield and attack following the departures of Lukaku, Ander Herrera over the summer and Marouane Fellaini in January.

United expressed interest in signing both Paulo Dybala from Juventus and Christian Eriksen from Tottenham late in the window but ultimately failed to agree a deal for either player.

Solskjaer insisted on Friday "there is money available when the right players are available" but he goes into this season without the creative force he wanted to add to his squad.

But Rashford, who signed a new four-year contract in July, is bullish and insists United have young, hungry players who are capable of turning the club's fortunes around after finishing outside the top four in three of the past four seasons.

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"I think it's a very exciting moment," Rashford said in an interview with the United Review match programme for the Chelsea game.

"For me it was just about getting the new contract out of the way and solidifying that I'm here for the club.

"It's about getting the club back to where it belongs, what everybody knows Manchester United are.

"I give my life for the club and that's the most important thing. For me, when you're in a squad with a lot of young players who share the same ambition and have the same drive, I can only see us succeeding.

"It might take us some time, but if we all stick to the game plan, work collectively as a team, and we've got a good manager who knows the club and who shares the same ambition, who knows what we can achieve?

"It's not just me. There's a group of young players together and we can start to become what we decide to become.

"That's an important thing to me: that we can start to help the younger ones coming through. It's all part and parcel of growing up in a United shirt. It's just the next step."

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