The £42m winger who could become Manchester United's perfect Rashford replacement - if they move fast

It’s been a long time since we last the real Marcus Rashford – but whatever the cause of the malaise that has caused him to lose form, threat and confidence over the course of the past year or so, three goals in his last two games suggests there may finally be a few green shoots of recovery. But while a rejuvenated Rashford is perhaps the best thing that could happen to Erik ten Hag’s team right now, that doesn’t mean they aren’t planning for the day when they will have to replace him.

New reports suggest they have a new name at the top of their list of left wingers for 2025 – Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi, a lightning-fast Germany international who has already scored twice and assisted in his first three matches of the Bundesliga season. But is he the man to replace Rashford if required?

Manchester United aren’t the 22-year-old’s only alleged admirers, with both Liverpool and Newcastle United mentioned as possible destinations in a number of media reports – but on Tuesday, TeamTalk made the claim that it was United who are “much more likely” to make a move, with Newcastle showing genuine interest and Liverpool seemingly moving on to alternative targets.

Watch the latest episode of The Premier League Panel right here as our experts look at Liverpool’s new regime.

Whatever the truth of the matter, United have been linked with Adeyemi enough times to make it seem likely that he, is at the very least, a player of significant interest to the new hierarchy at Old Trafford. The question is whether he could provide the end product that Rashford hasn’t been able to since the end of the 2022/23 season.

His track record is mixed enough to cast reasonable doubt on that, although given his age it’s not especially surprising that he hasn’t been consistently excellent at the highest level. He burst onto the scene as a teenager, scoring 22 goals in the 2021/22 season for RB Salzburg and earning his move to Dortmund, but since then his form has waxed and waned – a hugely promising debut season in which he bagged nine goals and five assists, followed by a rather tougher second act.

Last season, he managed just five goals in 34 appearances and went from starter to bench rider even as his club progressed towards the final of the Champions League. He did at least start that match was eventually taken off in the second half after failing to make any real dent in Real Madrid.

His gametime was hampered partly because he seemed to be struggling to make the right decisions in the final third and partly because of the emergence of young English winger Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who now competes directly with Adeyemi for minutes on Dortmund’s left flank. That’s part of the context in which United’s pursuit of the player should be understood – he is not a nailed-on starter and is still young and prone to peaks and troughs of form, confidence and output.

But there’s no questioning his daring, dribbling skills or his pace, which is extreme and almost certainly greater even than Rashford’s – and there’s no doubt that looked at his very sharpest in the recent league match against Heidenheim, when he set Donyell Malen up with a surging run into the box and found acres of space with which to plant a pair of composed finishes past goalkeeper Kevin Müller.

He still isn’t performing at that level every game, however. And there is room for improvement – for a player who takes a man on as often as he does, he fails to get past a defender a little too often, and his finishes too often give the goalkeeper a chance. Even at his best, he has not yet reached the kind of heights that Rashford has in the past.

There is plenty to love, however. His off-ball movement is exceptional and he’s a nightmare for defenders to track, meaning he can find space down the flanks and in the box with an ease few other players can, and he works hard enough out of possession to be a part of an effective high press. All of that should suit the hybrid 4-3-3/4-2-4 formation that Ten Hag has been making use of at United this season – although it’s worth noting that he is a left-footed left winger, not an inside forward who looks to cut back inside, and that would represent a departure. Not necessarily a bad one, however.

Juventus supposedly made an abortive transfer bid for Adeyemi over the summer, and that probably gives us a rough indication of the price tag we’d be talking about – negotiations had him valued at around the €50m (£42.1m) mark. That’s probably more than the current version of the player is worth, but may not be a bad bet to make given his speed and skill. With the right coaching, he could go a very long way indeed. Now we just have to wait and see whether he does that in Manchester.