Man Utd have been proven right about Marcus Rashford. (Image: Getty)
bright start to life at , despite still waiting for his first goal for the club, has offered a glimpse of optimism that he can rediscover his brilliant best away from . The Red Devils have faced scathing criticism for the decision to hand Rashford a bumper new contract until 2028 worth at least £300,000 per week two years ago.
He had just recorded a career-best 30-goal season under , one of the most productive campaigns among Europe’s forwards. However, Rashford failed to build on the unstoppable momentum, managing to score just 15 times across the one-and-a-half years that followed. Admittedly, the optics of the situation were unfavourable, but his sudden upturn in form .
Offloading the club’s poster boy so soon after making such a hefty financial commitment was a damning indicator of the intensity of Rashford’s decline at Old Trafford.
But club legend Gary Pallister strongly disagrees with hindsight-fuelled suggestions that United were wrong to reward his form with a contract extension in 2023.
“A fully fit and firing Marcus Rashford gets into most teams in the Premier League. They were right to give him a new contract,” Pallister told Express Sport with Spaceport Sweden.
“We can argue about the size of the contract and the money that was paid, in hindsight. But at that time, how many goals did he score that year?
“His form was blistering, he was a regular in the England squad, and he was one of the finest strikers in the Premier League, I would suggest. So nobody foresaw the dip in his form after that.”
Marcus Rashford signed a bumper new contract in 2023. (Image: Getty)
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Yet, at the same time, Pallister believes it was the correct decision to part ways in January after Rashford “didn’t look happy” in a United shirt.
The iconic defender has suggested that the 27-year-old’s blockbuster contract may have contributed to his deteriorated career at Old Trafford.
“There is always a theory, and I’ve heard managers talk about it, that once you give a player a big contract, they kind of get into a comfortable space, and they maybe lose a bit of hunger,” Pallister continued.
“I’ve had chats with countless managers who are concerned about that, about the money that’s around in the game, and how you’re very comfortable once you’re signing one of these big contracts.”
And despite Rashford’s reinvigorated performances at Villa Park, Pallister is unconvinced whether the loanee will play for his boyhood club again.
He added: “Whether he can come back to or not remains to be seen.
“Whether he’s got the desire to come back to , whether things would have to change at for him to come back and be happy, or whether it’s more deep-rooted than that, who knows?
“We’re all second-guessing. He’s gone to Aston Villa and he’s done alright. He’s still not managed to secure a regular berth in the first team; he’s mostly coming off the bench, but when he is, he’s making an impact.
“So I think every fan would like to think Marcus can come back and be Marcus Rashford of old. But whether that’s an actual possibility remains to be seen.”