Harry Maguire on Marcus Rashford's Potential at Manchester United
Harry Maguire believes Marcus Rashford can still be a driving force for Manchester United this season – and he sounds utterly convinced about it.
Rashford, starting a Premier League game for United for the first time in 21 months, looked like a man trying to reclaim his home on Saturday. In the 5-2 win over Ipswich at Old Trafford, he was one of United’s most dangerous outlets, stretching the game, running at defenders, and reminding everyone that, at his best, he changes the tempo of a match on his own.
Not long ago, it looked like his United story was drifting towards an awkward ending. A fall-out with former boss Ruben Amorim, a loan to Aston Villa, then Barcelona, where he would have stayed had the Catalan club triggered a £26m option. The door seemed to be closing.
It isn’t. With the transfer window about to slam shut on Tuesday night, Rashford now looks set to remain at his boyhood club.
“He's a great talent,” said Maguire. “He's always a threat.
“If Marcus wants to be here, wants to work, wants to improve and help the team, of course we're willing to have him in the team.
“He could still do a lot more and I think he'll say he can do more but if we keep him fit, we keep him happy, he keeps driven and hungry, he's a great asset to have.”
That word – asset – has been easy to forget in the noise around Rashford. The criticism has been relentless, stretching back into Erik ten Hag’s tenure. His work-rate, his body language, even the basic question of whether he still enjoys football have all been dragged into the spotlight.
The loan spells changed the scenery and, by the sound of it, sharpened the edges. Working under Unai Emery at Villa and Hansi Flick at Barcelona appears to have helped him reset. Now he returns to a dressing room led by Michael Carrick, a coach who knows him, his personality and his patterns, as well as anyone.
“You've got to remember Marcus has had a wonderful career for this club,” Maguire pointed out.
“But when you play at this club for numerous years, there's going to be bad seasons, and when the bad seasons come everyone piles on you. That's part and parcel of playing for this club.
“As a club, we haven't been perfect from top to bottom. We haven't been challenging at the top end. So, Marcus has been part of a rough ride for Manchester United.
“When that happens, players get dug out. I've been through it.”
Few at Old Trafford understand that scrutiny better than Maguire. Stripped of the captaincy, out of the team under Ten Hag, he looked certain to leave at one stage. He stayed, fought his way back in, and now speaks about Rashford with the air of someone who has felt the weight of the shirt and the glare of the criticism.
“He's come back in, really fit and sharp and we're excited to have him,” Maguire added.
Carrick has described Rashford as feeling like a new signing. That theme – of rediscovering value in players who had been written off or overlooked – runs through this United squad. Kobbie Mainoo is the clearest example.
The midfielder, repeatedly ignored by Amorim, has been rejuvenated by Carrick. Now he faces a different kind of challenge: picking himself up after England boss Thomas Tuchel left him unused at the World Cup. No minutes, no platform, just frustration.
Mainoo’s response against Ipswich said plenty. Handed his first start of the season, he grew into the game after United fell behind, imposing himself in midfield as the match opened up.
“I thought he was brilliant,” said Maguire.
“To say he hasn't had many minutes in pre-season, he was magnificent.
“His work without the ball has improved so much since Michael's been in. He's becoming a real monster in there, wins a lot of second balls and a lot of duels.
“The thing is he's so young. If we want him to play for this club for another 10 years, there's going to be times where he's going to go through a patch like I spoke about with Rashy and myself.
“But that's part and parcel. He's really level-headed, really composed and has great belief in his ability.
“He's going to be a magnificent player for this club for many years.”
United’s 5-2 win over Ipswich will not define their season, but the subtext around it might. Rashford back in the starting XI, sharp and threatening. Mainoo stepping into the midfield with authority. Maguire, once pushed to the margins, now one of the loudest voices backing them both.
The window closes on Tuesday. The noise will not. The question now is simple: can this version of Rashford, under Carrick, turn a turbulent chapter into the start of something more enduring at Old Trafford?
