Leeds United ace Patrick Bamford says Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford deserves to be knighted for his work off the football pitch.
Bamford has hailed "role model" Rashford in the wake of his ongoing campaign to provide free school means for children in the UK, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 22-year-old's efforts recently saw him awarded an MBE and his petition to end child food poverty has now passed one million signatures.
And on the pitch, Rashford scored a hat-trick after coming off the bench in United's 5-0 thrashing of RB Leipzig in the Champions League at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
Bamford has been in fine form himself, bagging a hat-trick as Leeds saw off Aston Villa in their latest Premier League match.
On Rashford, he told talkSPORT: “It’s fantastic. As footballers we get a lot of stick, sometimes fairly, sometimes wrongly, in the press and not enough of us use the power we have to work good things within society.
“Marcus, and Raheem (Sterling) as well, they’ve set an example for the rest of us.
“Marcus is only 22-years-old and he’s setting an example like that. For me, I’m older than him, but I’m looking up to him thinking: ‘Wow, that’s incredible’.
“If more people did that, I’m sure we’d see more change quicker with various things. I can't speak highly enough of what he’s doing.”
After Rashford was honoured in the Queen’s birthday honours list earlier this month, some are now calling for him to be given a knighthood.
Bamford is on board with the idea, adding: “Sir Marcus Rashford? Yeah, why not?
“The things he’s done, he’s achieving all these things and he’s a boy, he’s 22 and he’s achieving things grown men in the Government somehow can’t seem to.
“That’s astonishing, the fact he’s doing that, and he deserves everything that he gets. Why shouldn’t he be called Sir Marcus Rashford for the things he’s doing for other people?
“It’s all selfless, nothing is for himself, so I think he deserves it.”
