Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has said that he 'hopes' the Red Devils "are chasing" Kylian Mbappe, with the teenager inspiring France to glory at the 2018 World Cup.

Mbappe entered this summer's competition off the back of scoring 21 times for Paris Saint-Germain last term.

The 19-year-old had been in fine form for France on their run to the final of this year's World Cup, before getting his name on the scoresheet as Les Bleus landed the crown with a 4-2 win over Croatia on Sunday afternoon.

Ferdinand has claimed that Mbappe will take over from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the top player in world football, and said tongue in cheek that he 'hoped' United were after the attacker.

"Kylian Mbappe is the guy that Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi are handing the crown over to. He is the guy who will be standing up on that Ballon d'Or podium in years to come. Easy," Ferdinand told BBC Sport.

"I hope my old club are chasing him! He has that connection with Paul Pogba too."

Mbappe was technically on loan at PSG from Monaco last season, but completed a permanent move to the Ligue 1 giants earlier this summer for a fee that could eventually rise to £159m.