The Premier League, like most other top leagues in Europe, has always played host to some of the best talents in the world of football. When it comes to young, raw talent, it is right up there with the best in Europe. Two such players who are now making a lot of headlines in the league are Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho. Playing for two teams from the same city, the duo has seen the fans of both clubs fight for supremacy but who is the real prince of Manchester?
Starting from the England international, Marcus Rashford burst into the scene under Louis van Gaal who gave him an extended run in the side after the teenager managed to score on his debut for the club. He has now grown on to become one of the most important players in an under-performing Manchester United side and has also assumed an important role for the English national team.
On the other hand, the 20-year old Nigerian forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, joined Manchester City at the start of the previous season and has ever since grown in stature with almost every game he got to play for the club. He is not the first choice striker for the side with the likes of Sergio Aguero occupying that position, yet, Iheanacho has shown so much promise, that he is now considered as one of the best young talents in Europe at the moment.
On the face of it, it is hard to separate the duo based on their stats. Both the players have made 7 appearances each in the league this season, scoring 3 goals a piece. Iheanacho leads the assists column with 3 so far this season compared to none from Rashford. Both of them have a pass completion accuracy of 77% while they also have a similar amount of successful duels won for 90 minutes on the field. Iheanacho leads the race in the take-ons category with a success rate of 50% while Rashford is in the 35% range. These numbers show that the young duo is making a strong statement so early in their career and if they can keep it up, they will surely grow on to become one of the best in the league.
11 – Kelechi Iheanacho has now scored 11 Premier League goals from 17 shots on target. Clinical.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 23, 2016
Iheanacho and Rashford have also made huge impacts on the side in recent games with the Manchester City man scoring 8 goals in his last 12 appearances. The playing style of both players is vastly different and so are the styles of their respective clubs which makes it that much harder to decide on who is the better of the two. But playing for a struggling club with a stature like that of Manchester United, Rashford just about edges this battle.
Playing alongside the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial, Rashford has shown enough promise to steal a regular place in the starting XI and at his age, he has shown a great maturity to shoulder the responsibilities of the side. Iheanacho is playing under one of the best coaches in Europe and will grow on to become a great striker but Rashford is currently the only bright spark for a hapless Manchester United team and has made a more impressive impact on the league than Iheanacho.
Who do you think is the real prince of Manchester?
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