It was after his goalscoring performance in the Premier League derby at the Etihad in December that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer compared his current Manchester United star man with Ronaldo.
"It's very easy to compare the two of them, yeah," Solskjaer said. "Both with skills, body shape, attitude, attributes - everything. The boy has every chance in the world to become a top, top player. Let's hope he continues like this."
Then on Boxing Day, he did it again, after a fine Rashford header contributed to the rout against Newcastle.
"I remember a boy I used to play with who used to head it quite well when he was close to the goal, and we compare him quite often. So that's another string to his bow, Marcus, that Cristiano used to get at that age as well," Solskjaer said this time.
If those comparisons were too big a weight to bare for Rashford then he hasn't shown it. Six goals followed in his next eight starts to maintain the kind of electric form that has made 2019/20 a breakout season for the Wythenshawe-born forward.
Before his momentum was halted by a stress fracture to his back in January, Rashford had scored 19 goals in 27 starts for his most productive season to date for United. The 22-year-old has regularly been United's game-changer and match-winner this season.
He hasn't played since mid-January but there is excitement at seeing how he links up with Bruno Fernandes and the thought of a front three of Rashford and Jadon Sancho either side of Anthony Martial is enough to get the Old Trafford crowd salivating.
But first Rashford needs to do exactly what Ronaldo did at Old Trafford, and follow a breakout season with one where he enters the stratosphere occupied by the world class.
It was a gradual process for Ronaldo at United. He scored six, nine and 12 goals in his first three years at the club. Then came 23 in 53 games in 2006/07. The confidence from that campaign immediately fired him to the next level and a return of 42 goals in 49 games in 2007/08 served notice that this was a player who belonged at the very top of the game.
There is certainly a case to be made that Rashford is, at the moment, following a similar trajectory. His full seasons as a first-team player at United have resulted in 11, 11 and 13 goals, before this year's tally of 19 in just 31 games to date.
It's the kind of standout improvement that Ronaldo showed in 2006/07, when his prowess in front of goal began to match the ability he showed in other areas of the final third. The Portuguese proved he was one of the very best by using that as a springboard to what he achieved the following year.
Now the challenge for Rashford is to do the same, to produce the kind of goalscoring numbers and defining contributions, week after week, that would elevate him from good to great and beyond.
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They are a class of their own.
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