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At that time, the player causing most excitement in United’s academy — among everyone, from Sir Alex Ferguson down — was another Fletcher Moss Rangers graduate from Wythenshawe. Ravel Morrison was four and a half years Rashford’s senior, but his talent was undermined by a complex personality and a perceived susceptibility to trouble and “the wrong crowd”. At 23 he is at Lazio, but his career has been unravelling for some time.
“Marcus’s family kept him away from the negative influences that Ravel couldn’t get away from,” Horrocks says. “The best listeners are the best learners. Of the many players from Fletcher Moss who have made it into professional football, Ravel was the only one who wasn’t a listener. He got where he got to through pure talent. Marcus had talent, but, like Danny Welbeck, he was a listener. He would take on board whatever was said to him.”
Morrison’s development was characterised by peaks and troughs in mood and performance. Rashford’s progress through United’s academy was serene. The only worry he caused United was when City came calling again around his 16th birthday. City were determined to sign the one who got away, but Rashford stayed put. He felt he was on course for where he wanted to be.
Last season Rashford scored 13 goals in 27 appearances for United’s under-18 team — a promising return, but not enough to see him fast-tracked to the under-21s, let alone the senior squad. He made his debut for the under-21s only in September, but within two months he had been given a first-team squad number and named as a substitute for a Premier League game away to Watford. Nicky Butt, now United’s head of academy, showed him clips of Ruud van Nistelrooy to teach him how to learn to be in the right place at the right time. Rashford took all the advice on board and started to score regularly for the under-21s. The big time was getting closer, even if the thought of regular first-team football for United still seemed distant.
That unscheduled debut against Midtjylland in February, brought about by a severe injury crisis, changed everything. Ferguson often said that you needed to test young players in the first team before you could be sure whether they would sink or swim. Rashford has done more than swim. He has quickly soared to heights that few, even at United, expected.
“I always thought he had the talent and the right attitude, but he has added different things to his game,” Brogan says. “He was a winger in those early days, but he has developed into a really good centre forward. He’s had a growth spurt, which helps, and he looks good in the air now. His finishing is so calm. One thing I would say is that people haven’t seen much of his skills and tricks yet. I’m sure that will change as his confidence grows. He’s a great talent. He can be anything he wants to be.”
Something that everybody says about Rashford is that he wants to optimise his talent. He does not want to be a flash in the pan, an eight-week wonder. Van Gaal has been consistent not only in selecting him but with a mantra about the need to stay humble, work hard and keep improving. Rashford’s family, particularly his older brothers, have rallied around to try to protect him from Manchester’s bright lights and the perennial problems of hangers-on. That includes the dilemma over whether to enlist the help of an agent to negotiate his first big contract or whether to continue to look after his affairs with help from Welbeck’s brothers.
Rashford is said to have remained gloriously unaffected. The morning after his two goals against Arsenal he could be found in the sixth-form common room at Ashton-on-Mersey School. A few weeks ago he could be seen back on Button Lane with friends. “He came in for a chicken patty or some fried chicken,” Hemen Farouq, at J’s Rhythm takeaway, says. “He’s a nice guy, a good guy, the same as he was when he was living over the road.”
10
*Looking at you Lingard!*
