Marcus Rashford Can Define Manchester United's Season

Harry Maguire believes Marcus Rashford can still be one of the players who defines Manchester United’s season – and not from a distance, but right at the heart of Old Trafford.

Rashford, 28 now and back in a United starting XI in the Premier League for the first time in 21 months, helped rip into Ipswich in that wild 5-2 win. He looked like a man playing for something more than just three points. Every time he picked up the ball, there was a murmur, then a roar. The old feeling.

Not long ago, his United story looked close to its final chapter. A breakdown in relations with former manager Ruben Amorim, a loan to Aston Villa, then another to Barcelona. The Catalan club had a £26m option and, for a while, it felt like that would be that – boyhood idol turned export, career rebuilt under a different sky.

Barcelona walked away. The window shuts on Tuesday night. Rashford, barring a late twist, stays.

“He's a great talent,” Harry Maguire said. “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.”

The word “asset” has followed Rashford around for years – on the pitch, off it, commercially, politically. Lately, the conversation has been harsher. His work-rate, his commitment, even the basic joy he takes in playing football have all been dragged into the spotlight, the criticism stretching back through Erik ten Hag’s tenure.

The loans changed something. Under Unai Emery at Villa and Hansi Flick at Barcelona, Rashford rediscovered some of the structure and sharpness that had drained away in Manchester. Now he returns to a club where the head coach, Michael Carrick, knows him as well as anyone, from dressing room to training ground.

“You've got to remember Marcus has had a wonderful career for this club,” Maguire said, pushing back against the noise.

“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.”

He has. Maguire himself was once the lightning rod – stripped of the captaincy, eased out of the team, apparently edging towards the exit under Ten Hag. Now he stands back in the line-up, talking about another player’s redemption arc with the authority of someone who has survived his own.

“He's come back in, really fit and sharp and we're excited to have him,” he added.

Carrick has already called Rashford “like a new signing”, and in a sense he is. A familiar face with something to prove, a forward who has seen how quickly status can evaporate and how hard it is to win it back.

Rashford is not the only one Carrick is rebuilding.

Kobbie Mainoo, the midfielder Carrick revived after Ruben Amorim repeatedly overlooked him, is being asked to go again mentally after another blow – this time from England boss Thomas Tuchel, who took him to the World Cup but never put him on the pitch.

Mainoo’s response against Ipswich said plenty. His first start of the season, a shaky opening as United fell behind, then a steady climb. By the final whistle, he was dictating the rhythm, snapping into duels, owning second balls.

“I thought he was brilliant,” Maguire said. “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.”

That word again: monster. Not polished, not pretty. Relentless.

Mainoo is still only at the beginning. That, Maguire stressed, is where the real test lies.

“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.”

Rashford, the returning prodigal. Mainoo, the emerging cornerstone. Both framed by a defender who has worn the scars of Old Trafford scrutiny and come back for more.

United have spent years talking about rebuilds. What matters now is whether this version – with Carrick on the touchline, Maguire back in the fold, Rashford re-energised and Mainoo growing into the shirt – finally has the resilience to last longer than a single bright afternoon against Ipswich.