Youri Tielemans Excited for Marcus Rashford's Reunion at Manchester United
Youri Tielemans is relishing a reunion with Marcus Rashford at Manchester United – and he is convinced the forward can still light up Old Trafford if given a genuine chance this season.
Rashford has rejoined first-team training at his boyhood club this week after 18 turbulent months away, exiled under former United manager Ruben Amorim and sent out on loan. His long-term future remains uncertain. His most recent stop was Barcelona, where he spent last season before the Catalan side opted against turning the deal permanent for £26 million.
Before that, Rashford briefly crossed paths with Tielemans at Aston Villa in the second half of the 2024-25 campaign, arriving in the Midlands at the height of the storm surrounding his fallout with Amorim and the glare of constant off-field scrutiny.
Under that spotlight, Rashford still delivered. He helped drive Villa to the Champions League quarter-finals, where they fell to eventual winners PSG, and Tielemans remembers a player who shut out the noise and made an instant impact.
“He was great,” Tielemans said. “There had been so much talk about him and bringing pressure and the media around him, but I thought he was just so good. He was very humble, he was just hard working, and from the first training you could tell his touch, his acceleration was just amazing.
“That was just what we needed at the time at Villa as well, so he did many good things in that time and hopefully he can bring them here.”
Rashford is not the only familiar face easing Tielemans’ transition into life at United. The Belgian midfielder also knows Harry Maguire and first-team coach Jonny Evans well from their time together at Leicester City.
“I played with Harry for just a bit less than six months and it was great at the time,” he said. “You could see him and Jonny had a great partnership. Harry was younger at the time and Jonny was guiding him a bit more, but you could see his qualities on the ball.
“Defensively, he is rock solid, so I think he has improved a lot over the years as well. On Jonny, Jonny has always been a main character. He has always been trying to educate young players and he welcomed me at Leicester, and now here.
“It is a bit weird to see him as staff member, to be honest, but no, it is going great. He knows me, he knows what I need and what I can bring to the team, so it helps me as well.”
For Tielemans, finally pulling on a United shirt feels like the end of a long pursuit. This summer’s move came at the third attempt, after two previous rounds of talks with the club failed to progress.
“It is a great achievement for any player to end up here,” he said. “There has been two times that I spoke with the club, but it did not achieve to anything.
“When a move comes up, then if it needs to happen, it will happen. At the times that I have been linked with the club before, it did not happen, but it is what it is.”
Now, Tielemans is in the building and Rashford is back on the grass. What they do with this overdue second act at Old Trafford will define whether it was worth the wait.
