Rashford: United are the team for me

Our no.10 has finalised a new deal at Old Trafford, which keeps him here until at least 2028.

The 25-year-old is now firmly focused on continuing to give the best version of himself, as he looks to contribute towards future successes with his boyhood club, since joining at the age of seven.

“I think it's quite obvious that I'm happy to be here,” he says to former Reds defender Wes Brown, in an exclusive interview, which you can see in full on ManUtd.com and in the United App now.

“I feel like the team's going in the right direction, so I'm just fully focused on trying to win the biggest trophies for the club and trying to play my part in helping the team to grow and build. 

“And, at the same time, I feel like it's the right place for me to keep developing and growing as a person and as a player. 

“So, I'm happy. I'm looking forward to the next five years and, hopefully, we can bring a lot more success.”

While our Academy graduate is committed to achieving long-term success at the club, he’s not underestimating the impact that short-term results can have on that, and, therefore, the importance in making a strong start to the upcoming season.

Despite a positive campaign overall last time out, the Reds had to bounce back from successive defeats to start the term (to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford), and Marcus insists that avoiding a repeat will be key to building on our efforts from 2022/23.

“He [Erik ten Hag] is ambitious and he'll try to win everything. So that's always going to be the aim. And I think that has to be the aim at this club,” the forward adds.

“We don't want to play in the league to just get into the top four. We want to do our best to try to win it. And I think we've definitely got the squad and the staff to do it. 

“We need to believe in ourselves that we can do it and compete over the period of 38 games in the league. And that's the biggest thing, getting the consistency and the pattern of winning games. 

“But we have to start the season right. Last season, we didn't start the season right. So that's the first thing that we need to make sure we do.”

In terms of goals, Rashford enjoyed a personal-best campaign in Ten Hag’s first season, finding the net 30 times across all competitions.

Our top scorer in 2022/23 is naturally aiming to better that mark in the upcoming term, as part of an effort to help the team net more frequently, something he believes this United team are certainly primed to do.

“It's always to just try to do better than the season before, so in terms of numbers," he added. 

“But I think when the team's playing well and, you know, we're creating chances, the forwards are always going to score goals. So, it's just about being in the right positions.

“We have some great passers of the ball in the team, and we've got different ways to create chances. It's up to the forward lads and the midfield lads to, one, create chances and, two, score them. 

“I think we can definitely score more goals than we scored last season, so it's just about showing that we can do it.”