Manchester United

Paul McGuiness: 'Marcus Rashford wanted to be Andrea Pirlo'

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 22 June 2017

Manchester United's former youth coach Paul McGuinness reveals that Marcus Rashford initially wanted to be a central midfielder in the mould of Andrea Pirlo.

Manchester United's former youth coach Paul McGuinness has revealed that Marcus Rashford initially wanted to be a central midfielder as he idolised Italy legend Andrea Pirlo.

Rashford, 19, joined United from Fletcher Moss Rangers in 2005, and the Englishman came through the youth system with the English giants before making his first-team debut in 2015.

The teenager has scored 19 times in 71 first-team appearances for United, but according to McGuinness, Rashford initially saw himself as a central midfielder in the mould of Pirlo, before being pointed in a different direction.

"We decided, myself, Warren Joyce and Colin Little, that he was a very good footballer. He could be a number 10, a winger, beat people, he used to drop off into midfield," McGuinness told the Manchester Evening News.

"There was one tournament where he wanted to play like Pirlo. But we saw his potential to be a striker. We worked on his body shape, different runs. He's a really, really intelligent lad in terms of football. He picked it up very quickly."

Rashford made 53 appearances in all competitions last season, scoring 11 times in the process.