Marcus Rashford has outlined his intentions to remain a Manchester United player for the entirety of his playing career.
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While it’s an ambitious statement for a 23-year-old to make, Marcus Rashford has covered himself in nothing but glory throughout 2020, representing his club, his nation, his family and himself with awe-inspiring levels of grace and empathy. Simply put, Rashford is a massive credit to the aforementioned institutions which helped to raise him.
Given the perspective with which he has navigated, and helped so many during, the challenges of 2020, perhaps Rashford knows plenty more information to which the outside world isn’t privy — quotes from Sky Sports:“For me, I never look beyond Manchester United. As a kid I’ve never looked beyond Manchester United in my mind, it wouldn’t sit right for me to be pulling on another shirt.
“I just want to do the best I can for the club whilst I’m here, so hopefully I’m here for the long term.”
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“All the good things that have happened this year it’s come from Manchester United giving me the opportunity as a kid.
“I don’t just remember the last year or the last five years, I’m talking about the times when nobody in my family drove and I had to get to training, and United had people to come and take me to the training ground and take me back home.
“When I was six, seven, eight years old, I’m talking about the times when they put me into accommodation when my mum was struggling at home, when I was 11 years old and I was up there until I was 16, 17, so it’s a lot deeper than what people see sometimes.
“I think people only see some of the stuff that’s been happening since I’ve been in the first team, but the bond that I have with United is much greater than just these last five years, and it will forever be greater than my actual career.
“They’re the reason that I’ve become a footballer, they’ve given me an opportunity to express myself and find out that I had talent in football.”
Rashford and Manchester United will have the opportunity to claim a bit more local glory this weekend, when they host Manchester City in the Manchester derby on Saturday (Watch live, 12:30 pm ET, on NBC and online via NBCSports.com).