Soccer
Harry Maguire hopes Manchester United will do everything they can to keep Marcus Rashford at the club, describing the England international as a “huge threat”.
United brought the curtain down on their pre-season preparations on Saturday, with goals from Maguire and Patrick Dorgu not enough to prevent a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan.
One of the most notable moments of the game came in the second half, when Michael Carrick introduced Rashford from the bench for his first United appearance since December 2024.
Rashford’s last competitive outing for the Red Devils was a Europa League win over Viktoria Plzen 20 months ago, when current Milan boss Ruben Amorim was in charge.
Since then, he has had loan spells at Aston Villa – for whom he scored four goals and supplied five assists in 17 matches in 2025 – and Barcelona.
Rashford helped the Blaugrana retain their LaLiga title last season, making 49 appearances in all competitions – 26 of which were starts – and providing 25 goal involvements (14 goals, 11 assists).
Rashford’s most notable contribution was a stunning free-kick goal in Barca’s title-clinching win over Clasico rivals Real Madrid, but they neglected to make his stay permanent this summer, instead moving for his England team-mate Anthony Gordon.
It remains to be seen whether Rashford will stay at Old Trafford for the coming season, with Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal among the clubs credited with an interest in his services, but Maguire would like to keep him around.
“Obviously, the transfer window is still open,” Maguire said. “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 their backline really well. He could have scored. He’s a huge threat.
“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.”
Defeat in our final pre-season game.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 15, 2026
Milan’s friendly win represented a small measure of revenge for Amorim, whose ill-fated tenure in charge of United ended in January.
In just 14 months at the helm, Amorim oversaw United’s worst-ever Premier League finish as they placed 15th in 2024-25, and a humiliating Europa League final defeat to Spurs.
In the Premier League, Amorim had the worst win ratio (32%), the worst goals conceded per game ratio (1.5) and the lowest clean sheet ratio (15%) of any United boss.
But Maguire does not harbour any ill-will towards his former head coach, saying: “It was great to see him and all his staff. I got on with Ruben and all his staff really well.
“I am happy he has another chance to impress and show everyone what a great manager he is. I’m sure he’s going to be a success.
“I have nothing bad to say about Ruben. It just didn’t work out at Manchester United. He’s got a massive club now. I’ll be following them and hope they have an amazing season.”
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