Manchester United: Louis van Gaal to turn to Marcus Rashford and Adnan Januzaj amid striker shortage

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has 18-year-old striker Marcus Rashford "in his thoughts", with the club's options upfront shorter than ever. United face crucial clashes with FC Midtjylland and Arsenal in the Europa League and Premier League respectively over the next four days, with Anthony Martial the club's only healthy recognised centre forward.

Skipper Wayne Rooney has been ruled out for up to two months after suffering a knee injury, while Will Keane, recalled from a loan spell at Preston North End to bolster the first-team's options, suffered a groin strain in the 3-0 win over Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup on 22 February.

With James Wilson currently on loan at Brighton until the end of the season, United's options look meagre. Memphis Depay will likely to be asked to play through the middle, as he did during a similar injury crisis in November against Watford.

Rashford could become the latest United starlet to benefit from the crippling list of injuries currently afflicting the club, however, with Van Gaal telling MUTV: "He [Rashford] is the option at this moment for this position."

Rashford is yet to make his senior debut for the club but was named in match-day squads for league matches against Watford and Leicester City in November.

According to United's website, Adnan Januzaj is also likely to be considered in attack. The Belgium international trained with the rest of the squad on Wednesday having previously suffered a knock while playing for the club's Under-21 side. While he is ineligible to feature in Thursday's clash with FC Midtjylland at Old Trafford – having already featured in the Europa League for Borussia Dortmund this term – the 20-year-old could be considered for Sunday's clash with Arsenal.