Manchester United urged to partner Marcus Rashford with Monaco wonderkid Kylian Mbappe

Manchester United should sign Monaco starlet Kylian Mbappe to partner Marcus Rashford and let the pair 'run riot' at Old Trafford, according to former Red Devils forward Dwight Yorke.

Mbappe, aged 18, has been in phenomenal form for Monaco this season, scoring 26 goals as Leonardo Jardim's men scooped the Ligue 1 title ahead of Paris Saint-Germain and reached the last four of the Champions League.

Yorke, who won countless honours during his spell in Manchester, is excited by the prospect Mbappe-Rashford partnership and believes the coveted teenager should be his former club's top target this summer.

If the Red Devils fail in their pursuit of Mbappe, who saw a £103m bid for his services from Real Madrid rejected by Monaco, Yorke says they should try to sign Everton forward Romelu Lukaku, Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann or Real's Gareth Bale.

"If I was Manchester United manager I'd go and get Kylian Mbappe, the young kid at Monaco," said Yorke, speaking exclusively to 888sport. "Second favourite I'd go for [Romelu] Lukaku. Those are the two I'd look at. Then Griezmann or Gareth Bale or someone of that stature. Once we've got Champions League those are the best and certainly that Mbappe kid. Him and Rashford would run riot. You'd just let them play."

A deal for any of the aforementioned forwards could hinge on whether or not United qualify for the Champions League. Mourinho's men finished seven points behind fourth-placed Liverpool in the Premier League but could still make it into Europe's premier club competition if they manage to beat Ajax in the Europa League final on Wednesday night (24 May).

Yorke, a Champions League winner with United in 1999, stressed the importance of the game in Stockholm for United and thinks Mourinho's first campaign in charge of the Red Devils would be a disaster if they lose to the Dutch giants and fail to qualify for the Champions League for the third time in four years.

"They have fallen short in the Premier League, there is no two ways about that," Yorke added. "This is an enormous game for Manchester United. The important of it is just beyond as it will set the club up going forward to bring in the best players and that's something they need to do.

"United have gone three seasons now without winning the league and for a club of Manchester United's standards that is just not acceptable at all and considering the money they have spent this season to not end up in the Champions League will be absolutely disastrous.

"It's as important as the '99 final but for different reasons. We were creating history, to do something at the club nobody had been able to do. But in terms of laying down the foundations moving forward for this club that has not done anything meaningful in the Champions League for three seasons and to see the likes of Liverpool and Spurs in the Champions League and not Manchester United would be absolutely disastrous."

Read the full 888sport interview with Dwight Yorke, including his thoughts on how a Europa League win would make Mourinho a United great.