For the first time in his career, Marcus Rashford is a league champion. The attacker was on the scoresheet for Barcelona during their 2-0 victory over Real Madrid at the weekend, as the Catalan side secured La Liga title in front of a packed Nou Camp crowd.
Rashford’s delightful free-kick was the cherry on top of the cake for the Englishman, who has enjoyed an impressive season with the newly-crowned La Liga champions. It’s been quite a turnaround for Rashford, whose career was in desperate need of a rebuild after leaving Manchester United.
He didn’t exactly set the world alight during a short-term loan spell with Aston Villa, but 28 goal contributions across all competitions have certainly helped Rashford get back to his devastating best. What’s more, the Manchester-born ace has also put himself back in the picture for the England squad, with Rashford expected to be part of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the upcoming World Cup.
The big question is… should he be in the starting XI for England’s opening match against Croatia on June 17? He’s been a fixture in Tuchel’s squads so far, with plenty suggesting he ought to be the starting left-winger in a front three including Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.
What do you think? Should Rashford start England’s opening World Cup match next month? Vote in our poll below. And have your say in the comments too.
Away from the World Cup debate, question marks over Rashford’s future still hang over him heading into the summer. It had looked as if Barcelona would activate the option to buy in his contract, but progress surrounding a permanent deal appears to have stalled.
He remarked: “I don’t know. I am not a magician, but if I was, I would stay. So we will see… It’s really good. I come here to win. I want to win as many things as I can. So, this is one more to add to this. Yeah, this team is a wonderful team. They’re going to win so much in the future as well. So, to be a part of that would be special. So we will see.”
Meanwhile, on his stunning free-kick goal, he said: “No, I wasn’t going to shoot. I wasn’t going to shoot and then… because when I put the ball down I didn’t see the angles. I didn’t feel confident it was going to be a goal, so I was going to cross. But then everyone is telling me to shoot and then I hyped myself up a little bit. It was good I shot in the end as it was a good goal.”
