RASHFORD - I almost quit Old Trafford

MARCUS Rashford has revealed he considered quitting United last summer, before the appointment of Erik ten Hag resuscitated his Old Trafford career.

- TYRONE MARSHALL

The academy graduate became the first player in a decade to score 30 goals in a season for United last term, following in the footsteps of Robin van Persie, and he penned a new five-year deal two weeks ago to commit his long-term future to his boyhood club.

Rashford's turnaround under Ten Hag was particularly impressive given his disastrous 2021/22 campaign, when he scored just five goals and finished out of the team under Ralf Rangnick. That summer his representatives met with Paris Saint-Germain with his future uncertain and talks over a new contract yet to progress.

The Parisians have long held an interest in the forward, something PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi admitted last December, but Rashford is now one of Ten Hag's key men and the 25-year-old believes the Dutchman has saved his United career.

"Before the manager came maybe a little bit, but it's football, it happens," Rashford said when asked if he had considered leaving.

"Everything is going to happen for a reason and he came to the club at the right time for me, the timing worked out." Rashford had less than a year left on his contract when new terms were penned in July. When Bruno Fernandes signed a new contract in April 2022 he only committed after holding talks with the club ascertain to whether they matched his own ambitions.

That came towards the end of the brief Rangnick era when United had lost their way and Ten Hag had yet to be confirmed as the new boss.