Marcus Rashford was three years too late to have the pleasure of playing alongside Paul Scholes but the United No.10 feels two former teammates helped soften the blow with their supply to him.
An 18-year old Rashford burst onto the scene with four goals in his first two games back in 2016 and has progressed into a complete striker.
One can only imagine how he would have linked up with United legend Scholes, yet Rashford believes there were similarities in the skillsets of Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick.
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Rooney, who says he never saw himself as a natural number nine, dropped into a deeper role by the time Rashford was in the first-team.
And after years of being criminally underrated, Carrick's abilities were gradually appreciated and prompted United supporters to sing, "it's hard to believe it's not Scholes".
Rashford told the official Manchester United podcast: "It would have been a dream to play with someone like that.
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"The biggest thing for me is range of passing. Probably the closest thing to that was when Wazza (Wayne Rooney) was playing a bit deeper and it was just so enjoyable to play as a number nine in those games when he was playing in that position
"Similar with Carras (Michael Carrick) as well, as soon as they get the ball they look forward and want to play forward, not only to feet but in behind a lot of the time.
"As a forward that's all you want. As long as someone is seeing the passes and trying to make them, that's what you thrive on."
In his stunning career at Old Trafford Scholes provided ammunition for the likes of Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney and current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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But Scholes says it would have been dream to play with someone like Rashford, with his pace and movement in behind.
The 45-year old was well aware of Rashford when he was making waves in the youth ranks and liked what he saw whenever he watched him.
"I always remember watching him, mainly in the reserve team, and he was an out and out centre-forward," Scholes said.
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"Sometimes I would go to games and just watch him, and not really watch where the ball was. I'd look for his movement - is he clever enough to have that link with a midfield player? I think he has that.
"I was really excited when he first got into the team, a little bit luckily at first - I think there was an injury to someone. But ever since he has got into the team, he has shown the talent he has got as a centre-forward or a player wide on the left.
"I always remember seeing him as a kid and I thought his intelligence and movement was as a centre-forward.
"He looked like an out-and-out number nine, but now when you see him in games, he seems to enjoy it more from the left-hand side."
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Paul Scholes, Football News, Football, Manchester United, Marcus Rashford, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney
