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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to The Telegraph, Marcus Rashford is close to agreeing a fresh contract with Manchester United, which would earn the England international in the region of £250,000 a week as a basic wage.

What’s the story?

Rashford’s current deal with the Red Devils will expire next summer, although the club do have the option of an additional 12 months.

The 21-year-old scored 13 times and registered nine assists in 47 appearances for United during the 2018-19 campaign, which is a decent return.

However, the attacker still lacks consistency in his game – netting just once in his final 11 Premier League appearances of the season.

According to The Telegraph, Rashford is close to penning a new four-year deal with United which will earn him in the region of £250,000 a week.

However, the report claims that the Englishman’s deal could actually be worth in excess of £300,000 a week due to various bonuses.

It is a staggering amount of money for a player who still has much to learn.

Is Rashford value for money?

Although Rashford is clearly talented, it is hard to justify that sort of outlay when it comes to young players who may or may not go on to reach the level of ability heralded of them.

Had Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe been signed this summer then there could be little argument for handing the Frenchman a substantial wage.

But Rashford has actually only scored 45 goals in 170 appearances for United whereas Mbappe has 87 goals in 147 games for Monaco and PSG, while he also lifted the World Cup with France last summer.

Watch a Man Utd fan’s epic Ed Woodward rant in the video below…

Of course, it’s a harsh comparison considering Mbappe is arguably the best young player in world football, but that’s the calibre of wages reportedly being offered to Rashford.

The PSG star reportedly takes home €398,000 (£356,457) per week, and yet the differences between Mbappe and Rashford remain pretty vast. One has scored in World Cup finals and won three consecutive league titles, the other won’t even be playing in the Champions League next season.

The fact that the Englishman feels that he is worth those sort of numbers is a concern, but more alarming is the fact United appear to agree with him.

For Rashford to justify that kind of pay at this age, over the course of his four-year contract he’ll need to become a genuine superstar and show drastic improvements on his 16 goal contributions in the Premier League last season.

While his early career as been laced with doses of showing the potential to do so, there are no guarantees he’ll ever reach that level either.