From the moment he first took to the pitch against FC Midtjylland, scoring those two delightful debut goals and achieving every fan’s childhood dream, Marcus Rashford has been cementing himself in the hearts of Reds ever since.
Not only has he shown incredible maturity over the past few seasons, seemingly basing much of his game and mindset on Cristiano Ronaldo in becoming a model professional, but Rashford seems to be developing into an all-round role model in every sense of the word.
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We’re not just talking about sorting out match tickets, visiting hospitals and general participation in the United Foundation, as is expected of all of our players; Rashford has made a point of going above and beyond to do his bit for various different charities.
If we rewind to just this last October, Marcus started his own initiative called the ‘In-The-Box’ Christmas Campaign, which worked with organisations like Barnabus, Centrepoint and Lifeshare, to bring aid to Manchester’s homeless community during the festive period.
This may be familiar to those who grew up in the UK, as it takes inspiration from the Christmas Shoebox Appeal, where children like Marcus himself helped fill and donate to developing countries and communities around the world throughout primary and secondary school.
Back in March, Rashford began the process of learning sign language, which coincided with him hosting a poetry competition for World Book Day. Not only was he responsible for selecting the themes and specific poems to be judged, but as the entrants all suffered with varying degrees of hearing difficulties, Marcus wanted to make sure he was able to clearly communicate with everyone.
Furthermore, his latest efforts have seen him raise over £20 million for the FareShare charity, which helps provide food and school meals for children and families across the UK, especially given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This incredible landmark was achieved back in April and now even supermarkets like Tesco, Co-op and Asda are also taking part – whether that be donating extra supplies or helping with logistics – so who knows how much they will go on to raise.
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With the return of Premier League just around the corner, it is worth noting that Rashford has managed to do all of this whilst making a full comeback from the injury, which sidelined him in January, a huge blow given that he was on track to have his best-ever season – just one goal away from netting 20 for the first time in his career.
As seems to be standard now, Rashford has set an example both in terms of his recovery and in maintaining his fitness whilst the rest of the season has been on hold. With the first back in training images being released, the group looks reinvigorated by Rashford’s return (not to mention Paul Pogba’s), and his model professionalism looks set for United to not only finish the season strong, but kick-on as a more cohesive group than ever, with yet another leader to look toward.
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