MORE TO COME FROM RASHFORD AFTER BEST-EVER SEASON

It’s probably fair to say that Marcus Rashford dreamed of a more grandstand finish to the 2019/20 season.

There were cup semi-finals against Chelsea and Sevilla lined up and a top-four spot to secure.

Throughout the season, Marcus had led the way. He’d been top-scorer for much of the campaign. The coronavirus-interrupted pause to the season had even allowed him time to recover from injury to play a part in United’s run-in.

He’d used that break from competitive football not to sit around on social media, or play on his Xbox, but to force the government into a vital U-turn on free school meals for children who desperately needed them.

Surely the football would be a doddle, after an achievement that seismic?

In the end, it didn’t quite pan out that way. United exited the FA Cup and the Europa League at the last-four stage, and the last of Rashford’s 22 goals came against Crystal Palace, six games out from the end of our season.

But that low-key climax to his 2019/20 seems to have somewhat overshadowed the fact that Rashford was absolutely pivotal to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first full season as manager.

Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood might have been grabbing the headlines in the final weeks, but Rashford did more than anyone to ensure United were even in contention for the cups and the top four prior to the Portuguese’s arrival in January.

The Academy graduate had 19 goals by mid-January, and but for an unfair ruling on his header against Aston Villa in December – recorded as a Tom Heaton own goal – the Wythenshawe-born forward would have hit the 20 before Fernandes had even signed. And many of those goals were absolutely key.

The first in the Manchester derby at the Etihad – a penalty which he won and then converted. Two against Jose Mourinho’s Spurs. All told, he scored our first goal in nine matches up to and including the the 4-0 victory over Norwich – his 200th game for the club at the age of just 22 years and two months.

Then disaster struck. He’d been playing through pain for a while, and a serious back injury, suffered in a substitute appearance in a cup replay against Wolves, looked to have ended his season.

But with a bit of help from the unexpected COVID-enforced pause, he was back for our first game of 'Project Restart' against Tottenham Hotspur – yet again keen to put his body on the line for the cause.

(This was after he’d taken it upon himself to tackle food poverty.)

There was more. Six assists for Anthony Martial alone. His influence on Mason Greenwood’s breakthrough season. The 18-year-old recently admitted no one has had a greater impact on his career, because he’s following the path Rashford marked out four years ago when carving out his own niche in the first team. The elder player’s regular advice certainly seems to be helping Greenwood make a smooth transition to elite-level football.

And all this in a season interrupted by injury, amid huge changes to the squad’s composition, during months where we were without the midfield creativity of Paul Pogba (and Bruno Fernandes, of course).

It was a sterling effort, and maybe deserves more credit than it has received in the season’s post-mortem. But maybe the frustrating denouement to last term will give Rashford’s ambition even more bite – not that the Ronaldo-inspired workaholic requires it.

But there are strong reasons for excitement ahead of our no.10’s sixth season with the senior team. His ever-developing, instinctual relationship with Martial, for one. The front three’s harmony in general, for that matter. It's hard to believe Greenwood, Martial and Rashford only started together for the first time against Partizan Belgrade in November.

The same goes for his partnership with Luke Shaw down the United left. Some felt Marcus missed the left-back’s overlapping runs and the natural width offered by the ex-Southampton man, once an injury to Shaw had ruled him out until next term.

And while Fernandes has quickly struck up a great on-field rapport with Martial, there’s every chance he’ll do the same with Rashford once the pair have enjoyed a lengthier spell alongside each other in the team.

Then there’s the more general things: Rashford will be another year older; another year more mature. With the Euros rescheduled for next summer, and competition for places high in the England squad, there’s no chance Marcus will be easing up at any point.

Another thing it’s easy to forget is just how much Rashford progressed last year. His 22 goals was an improvement of nine on his previous best (2017/18, 2018/19).

That most of those goals came before his injury, and before the New Year, perhaps gives a false sense that this has been a modest campaign for him.

It’s been far from that. He’s shown great leadership, great determination and, above all, great skill. If his free-kick at Chelsea doesn’t win Goal of the Season, we might as well all pack up and go home.

That we expect even more next time round only goes to show how accustomed we’ve become to Marcus Rashford’s constant career progression.

At just 22 years old, there should be plenty still to come. But let’s not forget what Rashford has already achieved: United couldn’t have done without his input in 2019/20.

The opinions in this story are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Manchester United Football Club.