Rashford gives his verdict on our young players

Marcus Rashford knows what it takes to make the step up from the Academy to the Manchester United first team.

The Wythenshawe-born forward famously scored twice on his senior debut against FC Midtjylland, repeating the feat when making his Premier League bow at home to Arsenal three days later.

In the latest edition of United Review, our no.10 gave us the lowdown on the young prospects who featured for the Reds in pre-season...

TAHITH CHONG

“Chongy is a very exciting player when he’s on the ball. For me, you just want him to express himself more because I’ve seen him play in the Under-18s and he’ll run at a defender all day long and give them a hard time for 90 minutes. When he’s come to the first team... you all saw the game against Inter Milan, when he was just up and at them for the time he was on the pitch. That’s what you want to see.”

JAMES GARNER

“Jimmy’s very mature for his age. When I started playing for the first team at the same age he’s at now, I probably wasn’t as mature as him in the way I was playing. He’s in the midfield too so he has to mature quicker, but, for me, he’s a very good player and I want to see him and the others grow and become Manchester United players.”

ANGEL GOMES

“Angel is another one who’s been known in United’s system as one of the top players for many years. It’s probably taken him a bit more time than he expected – he’s smaller than pretty much all the players he plays against, but he’s a clever kid so he can manipulate his body to get in good positions, without necessarily using the physical side of the game. He’s a very clever player and you just want those players to keep developing and, the way to do that, is to get game time.”

MASON GREENWOOD

“Mason is quite laid-back. He just likes to enjoy his football. I always think to myself that he’s not someone who you would necessarily give loads of information to. Just tell him a few bits and let him just play; that’s how he gets about with his football.”

AXEL TUANZEBE

“For me, it’s no surprise to see the progress Axel has made. I’ve been playing with Axel since we were kids and I remember, at about 16 or 17, he was the toughest one-v-one defender that I’d ever trained or played against. I’ve always expected this from him. It’s funny how things work out, but now’s his time.”

This feature first appeared in the Chelsea edition of United Review on 11 August.