Michael Owen tips Man United to sign "next Wayne Rooney" and makes brutal Martial claim

Michael Owen insisted that Manchester United needed to sign the “next Wayne Rooney”, while he skewered Anthony Martial’s goalscoring pedigree.

Manchester United have had a resurgence in form in the past month. A gritty victory over West Ham saw Erik ten Hag’s side extend their unbeaten run to eight games in all competitions. The club are now fifth in the Premier League, just a point outside the top four.

Ten Hag's side have clawed their way up the Premier League table despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s stuttering form and Martial’s injury absence.

However, Owen has stressed the Red Devils need to sign up to four players to maintain their positive start under ten Hag, including the next Wayne Rooney.

Speaking to AceOdds, the former Man Utd and Liverpool marksman said: “I think when you’re Manchester United, you're probably looking at the next Wayne Rooney, the next 18-year-old, 19-year-old, 20-year-old.

“If you're going to buy somebody that you're going to pay, make money and that's going to nail that position down for the next decade.

“But there's nobody really out there at the moment that they’ve done that with. So they’ve had to bring players in like Casemiro, like Ronaldo, very much the here and now. But they might need to be replaced in the short-term.”

Owen also claimed that the Red Devils should look to replace Martial, due to the Frenchman’s inability to put together a consistent scoring run.

Martial has made just four appearances under ten Hag after suffering three respective injuries since the Dutchman took over.

On the 26-year-old Owen said: “Cristiano Ronaldo obviously isn't getting any younger and is not going to be there for another four, five years.

“You never know, it might be his last season. So from that point of view, you do wonder where goals will come from. Marcus Rashford has always been a goal scorer but never been absolutely prolific.

"[Anthony] Martial has had lots of chances over time. He's never been really prolific into the twenties, let's say. So I think in terms of scoring goals, that's where Manchester United will have to address it at some point.”