Aston Villa completed their third signing of the January transfer window on Sunday as Marcus Rashford joined on loan from Manchester United for the remainder of the season.
The England forward arrives at Villa Park with over 400 senior club appearances already under his belt, in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League.
He is just 13 goals away from joining the Premier League 100 Club, and has also notched 17 goals in 60 appearances for his nation.
Having trialled with Manchester City, amid further interest from Everton and Liverpool, Rashford joined United’s Academy aged seven, going on to become the youngest-ever player to be selected for the Manchester United Schoolboy Scholars scheme, usually reserved for players 12 and above, when he was 11.
He spent his youth at the Red Devils playing alongside the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison, training with the senior side for the first time aged 16, under David Moyes, during the 2013/14 season.
Rashford received rave reviews for his performances in United’s youth ranks, excelling in the Under-18 Premier League and UEFA Youth League, and being handed the captaincy by Under-19s manager and United icon Nicky Butt.
In February 2016, aged 18, Rashford made his professional debut under Louis van Gaal, netting twice in the second half of a 5-1 Europa League win over Midtjylland, breaking a record previously held by George Best to become United’s youngest-ever goalscorer in European competition.
Three days later came his Premier League debut and again, Rashford stole the show. Two goals and an assist secured a 3-2 victory over Arsenal, before the following month, he scored the only goal in the Manchester derby – becoming the youngest scorer in the fixture in the Premier League era, beating Wayne Rooney's record by almost a year.
Despite only debuting in February, Rashford ended the campaign with eight goals in 18 appearances, winning United’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award and bagging his first piece of silverware, starting in attack for United at Wembley in the FA Cup Final, which his side won 2-1 against Crystal Palace.
Having been named in England's senior squad for the 2016 European Championship, Rashford made his Three Lions bow in a warm-up fixture against Australia at the Stadium of Light, notching just three minutes into a 2-1 win, becoming the youngest player to score on his England debut.
The following season saw Rashford continue to break into United’s first team, establishing himself as a professional under José Mourinho, and ending the campaign with 11 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions, the most number of games of any United player that season.
A League Cup winners’ medal in February – having lifted the Community Shield prior to the start of the season – was added to by the Europa League at the end of May. He was named runner up to Portugal’s Renato Sanches in the Golden Boy award for best European player under the age of 21.
United competed in the Champions League in 2017, having won the Europa League the previous campaign. Rashford’s debut in the competition told a familiar tale as he netted in a 3-0 win over Basel in September, marking the sixth competition that he had scored on his debut in.
By late October, he had contributed to 12 goals in 16 games (seven goals and five assists) and, at the end of that season, following Zlatan Ibrahimović’s departure, was handed United’s prestigious No.10 shirt.
Rashford’s rise continued into the 2018/19 season. In January, he netted the winner in a 1-0 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, marking the first time he had scored in three-successive league games in his career.
In March, Rashford’s first competitive penalty goal for the Reds sealed a dramatic 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16, sending United through on the away goals rule. That summer, he was rewarded with a new four-year contract.
The following campaign was to be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, on the back of Rashford’s best goalscoring run of his career to date, with 16 club goals in 20 matches.
After the season was halted for over three months, the forward returned during project restart with goals against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace. The latter, his 17th of the Premier League season, equalled his tally from the previous two terms combined.
The following season, Rashford netted his first hat-trick, behind closed doors, in a Champions League win over RB Leipzig, as United ended the season second in the Premier League table.
After the conclusion of the European Championship, in which Rashford helped England reach the final in an eventual defeat to Italy, he underwent surgery which would keep him sidelined until October 2021.
The 2022/23 season saw Rashford enter the form of his career and provide his best goalscoring return, notching 30 in 56 games in all competitions, including another 17 in the Premier League.
A day before his 25th birthday, he scored his 100th United goal in a 1-0 win over West Ham United, before three goals for England at the winter 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A starring role in their final group game against Wales saw him notch twice, including a sublime free-kick.
After returning from Qatar, Rashford notched another winner in a Manchester derby, with his performances during the season recognised as some of the most impactful and consistent of his career.
In late February, he bagged the second goal in the League Cup Final at Wembley against Newcastle United as he lifted the trophy for the second time in his career.
He became the first United player since Robin van Persie in 2012/13 to notch 30 goals in a season, and ended the campaign being named the club’s fan-voted Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, and the Players' Player of the Year, before signing a new contract.
A further seven Premier League goals in 2023/24 saw him end the season by lifting a second FA Cup trophy, as United beat their Manchester rivals 2-1 at Wembley in the final.
This season, he netted the first goal of Ruben Amorim’s reign as Manchester United boss, heading the Reds into the lead at Portman Road within the opening 90 seconds as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Ipswich Town. It was one of seven goals he has already notched this season.
So far, to date, Rashford has 426 senior appearances at club level to his name, with 138 goals in all competitions.
Here are five interesting facts you might not know about Marcus Rashford…
Debut delight
Marcus holds a unique record at having scored on his debut in no less than six different competitions.
A goal against Midtjylland on his Manchester United debut in the Europa League was followed up with a goal on his Premier League debut against Arsenal.
As well as scoring in his first Champions League and FA Cup games, Rashford netted just three minutes into his England debut, while scoring the winner in his first appearance in a Manchester derby.
Royal recognition
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Marcus was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in October 2020, for services to vulnerable children, after campaigning for free school meal vouchers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was awarded his MBE in November 2021 by The Prince of Wales, recognising his continued efforts to tackling child food poverty.
This came a month after receiving his honorary doctorate from The University of Manchester for ongoing charity work and a well-publicised campaign against child poverty, as well as on-field excellence.
Safe hands
Before joining Manchester United aged seven, Rashford began playing football with local side Fletcher Moss Rangers at the age of five.
Inspired by former United stopper Tim Howard, Marcus actually started off as a goalkeeper before former Rangers Academy development officer at the time, Dave Horrocks, recalled Rashford was on a "different level" to other players.
Bookworm
The Marcus Rashford Book Club was launched in November 2020, alongside Macmillan Publishers, to help vulnerable and underprivileged children experience the “escapism of reading”.
The work didn’t stop there. In 2021, Rashford released You Are a Champion: How to Be the Best You Can Be, which won Book of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2022.
This has since been followed up by a further two publications – You Can Do It: How to Find Your Voice and Make a Difference in 2022, and children’s novel The Breakfast Cub Adventures: The Beast Beyond the Fence, written with Alex Falase-Koya.
Trendsetter
A well-recognised figure in popular culture, Rashford’s goal celebration has become somewhat iconic and adopted by fellow professionals in football and other sports.
He is known to point to his temple, symbolising mental strength and focus, with the look beginning to catch on across football during his stellar 2022/23 season.
England team-mate Bukayo Saka and Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich were among the players to perform the celebration, while tennis champion Novak Djokovic and England cricketer Jofra Archer also adopted it.
Welcome to Aston Villa, Marcus! 🏴
