How young Rashford took his chance at United
Chris Smalling has recalled the first time he saw Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford in a training game.
The 21-year-old forward, who has signed a new long-term contract with the club, enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks when afforded his first-team opportunity due to an injury crisis in 2016. Of course, he took that chance with both hands by scoring doubles against Midtjylland, in the Europa League, and Arsenal, in the Premier League, at Old Trafford.
Experienced United defender Smalling was immediately taken aback by the sheer pace of the youngster and impressed by his confidence and personality.
"I think he almost took it all in his stride. You could tell he was a confident kid. You need to be at this club, I think, and to be a no.9 as well. You could tell he wasn’t fazed, coming up to the first team and being really thrown in, as you could see he was a special talent. The manager at the time knew that and put him straight in."
Although Rashford's swift breakthrough onto the senior stage happened so quickly, he was able to integrate due to his existing relationship with others who had taken the same path into the side.
"He didn’t play much for the Reserves as he skipped that stage," added Smalling. "But we saw a lot of the youth-team games because of the fact they’re on MUTV. Quite often, when we’re training inside, and getting stretched, it will be on the screen so we do keep up to date with the youth-team games.
"At that time, we had quite a few young players. Not as young as Rashy but a lot of them knew him already and that helps coming into the environment so it’s not totally daunting getting to know 25 players. The fact a lot of other players had come through the Academy as well definitely helped him."
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