Andy Cole believes that Marcus Rashford will become a much better striker from his time playing on the left wing for Manchester United.

Romelu Lukaku's summer arrival at Old Trafford has seen United boss Jose Mourinho choose to utilise Rashford on the left flank as he looks to accommodate his wealth of attacking talent.

Despite occupying an unfamiliar role, the England international has managed to find the net three times in the Premier League this season and Cole believes that the 20-year-old will benefit from playing in a wider position.

"I look at him at the moment, he's scoring goals and he's bringing a lot more things to his game," the former United striker told ESPN FC.

"I think he will end up as a centre-forward," he added. "I just think at the moment having Lukaku in the team and obviously Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] coming back as well, I think it's good.

"He will learn off the left because when he becomes a centre-forward he will have the full package."

When asked how far Rashford could go, Cole said: "That's up to him. I get asked this all the time and I think that's down to the individual and how far they want to go.

"You look at Rashford at the moment and he wants to extend himself to be as good as he can be, which is very, very good.

"In football, when you are young and you keep learning and you want to aspire to be the best, you never know where he can end up."

Cole had a similar message of support for Anthony Martial.

The 21-year-old has previously been the subject of criticism by his manager, but has enjoyed a strong start to the campaign finding the net five times in 11 Premier League games.

"I'm hoping he [Martial] is going to be there a long time," Cole said. "If you look at the talent that kid's got, it's absolutely frightening. He's got great feet, scores goals and creates goals.

"He's had his ups and downs with the manager already but I think he just wants the arm around the shoulder -- a bit of loving and you'll definitely get the best out of him."

Mourinho has seen his striking options bolstered by the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, after the Swede recovered from a serious knee problem to make his United return during Saturday's 4-1 triumph over Newcastle.

Ibrahimovic's return to first team action has raised questions over which strike pairing Mourinho might use in the coming weeks.

When asked his thoughts on the possibilty of the 36-year-old partnering Lukaku up front, Cole added: "It's going to be interesting to see if Jose does play the two of them up front together.

"You've got Rashford, you've got Martial -- they're all quality players and they all know what to do."