Manchester United defender Harry Maguire says he hopes Marcus Rashford will stay at Old Trafford because he can improve the team. Rashford came on as a second-half substitute in his first game for United since December 2024 in the 4-2 pre-season defeat by AC Milan in Wroclaw. He produced one moment of skill by the corner flag and also came close to scoring after being given the number nine shirt by Michael Carrick.
United officials have stressed the number is not regarded as permanent on a day when striker Benjamin Sesko - who had been expected to take the nine shirt this season - was not available through injury. However, even that underlines the uncertainty around Rashford's future before the 1 September transfer deadline. Carrick could not say last week whether the England forward will stay, and Maguire is equally unsure of his team-mate's future.
However, he wants him to remain at Old Trafford. "Obviously the transfer window is still open," said Maguire. "As players, we hope he stays because if he does, he is a big asset to have.
He can improve us for sure. "You saw when he came on, he threatened the backline really well. "I've played with Marcus for numerous years and I know that playing against him and playing with him in training is going to help us." The disappointment was Rashford's return coincided with what Maguire accepted was Manchester United's "worst" pre-season performance, a week before their Premier League opener at Hull.
Skipper Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty for the second game running, which would have made it 2-1 at half-time, although there were encouraging signs in his link-up play with Youri Tielemans as both completed the full 90 minutes for the first time. "We're wanting to play much further up the pitch, be more aggressive and more on the front foot," said Maguire. "This was the only game where I didn't feel we did ourselves justice in that aspect.
We had a lot of high regains and created a lot of chances from that, but we didn't sustain our pressure anywhere close to enough." In a long, five-week, six-match pre-season, Maguire took on the captain's duties in the early games, when Fernandes was missing. That is an indicator he could be the vice-captain this season, although that is yet to be confirmed. He also had some warm words for former boss Ruben Amorim.
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