Marcus Rashford Takes Man Utd No.9 Shirt as Carrick Backs Him
Marcus Rashford’s Manchester United career looked finished a year ago. Now he walks back into Old Trafford with one of the club’s most famous numbers on his back.
United have confirmed that Rashford will wear the No.9 shirt for the new season, a clear signal that the club see him as central to their plans again after his season-long loan at Barcelona. His former No.10 has gone to Matheus Cunha, but the message is obvious: Rashford is no longer on the way out. He’s back in the spotlight.
The decision was announced ahead of United’s Premier League opener away to newly promoted Hull on Saturday. Around him, a new generation is also being nudged into the frame, with academy prospects Shea Lacey and JJ Gabriel given squad numbers 31 and 77 respectively.
Barcelona had the option to keep Rashford permanently for £26million at the end of his loan. They passed. United responded by slapping a £40m valuation on him, yet no serious bidder came forward. Any sense that he was surplus to requirements has quickly faded under Michael Carrick.
The United manager is not hiding how important he believes Rashford can be.
“It’s been pretty obvious since Marcus came back training with Kobbie [Mainoo] and Licha [Lisandro Martinez] pretty much, in Dublin, that he’s come back fantastically well,” Carrick said in his pre-match press conference.
“He’s enjoying his football, he looks fit, he looks sharp, he looks strong, he looks ready to play football. So, I’ve been delighted with him since he’s come back.”
Carrick’s words carry extra weight. He was in the dressing room when Rashford first exploded onto the scene as a teenager.
“Marcus is a highly talented player,” he told TNT Sports. “When I was playing and he came into the team, he was fresh, young and playing in the No. 9 position. He burst onto the scene and did some unbelievable things.”
Expectation has never really left Rashford since that breakthrough. The scrutiny has only grown.
“He has had such a good career and people judge things and always expect the best, best, best out of everyone all the time,” Carrick said. “But some of the greatest players that played alongside me here had ups and downs throughout their career.
“I remember Giggsy (Ryan Giggs) had some challenging times on the pitch during his twenties and that’s just part of the game and look at how he finished his career. That’s part of being a player, especially here when the club has enjoyed so much success and then there are times when it doesn’t come so easy.
“You have to deal with it and push on, and Marcus looks really good. He looks sharp, he’s in a really good place, and it’s been great to have him back around over the last couple of weeks.”
Rashford has always insisted his best work comes from the wing, driving in from the left, attacking full-backs, playing on instinct. Carrick knows that, but the No.9 on his back is not just for show.
Asked whether Rashford could lead the line, Carrick didn’t hesitate.
“Of course he can play through in the middle. He has done,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s naturally his No.1 position, but he can do that, and I think we’ve got forwards that give us that flexibility right across the frontline, we’ve used all of them, pretty much, in slightly different roles. So, I think for us to have that option is really good moving through the season.”
Flexibility is one thing. Responsibility is another. Wearing United’s No.9 brings a different kind of weight: the expectation of goals, of big moments, of deciding games when the team is flat.
Rashford has lived under that kind of glare before. This time, he returns from Barcelona leaner, tested, and with the clearest sign yet from his boyhood club that they still believe he can carry it.
Hull away is only the first step. The real question is whether the new No.9 can turn that faith into something far more uncomfortable for his critics: silence.
