Michael Carrick’s praise for Marcus Rashford when he was his Manchester United teammate must be mirrored with one emerging Red Devils talent at Old Trafford.
Marcus Rashford emerged from the Manchester United youth academy and he received his senior first-team debut under former manager Louis van Gaal.
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The 28-year-old United loanee has been a staple of the Red Devils squad until his fractured relationship with former club manager Ruben Amorim last season.
Michael Carrick witnessed first-hand the rise of England international Rashford and played alongside him under Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.
The 44-year-old former Middlesbrough manager even coached Rashford during his time in the Old Trafford dugout under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho.
What Michael Carrick said about Marcus Rashford could be the same springboard for another Man Utd player
Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal turned to Marcus Rashford during the 2015-16 season amid an injury crisis that had his squad at the time.
Rashford, who is on a season-long loan at Barcelona, seized his opportunity at Man Utd and made his presence felt in Van Gaal’s final campaign at Old Trafford.
After scoring seven times in 14 matches for the Red Devils in the 2015-16 season, Carrick waxed lyrical about Rashford’s rise to prominence while being his teammate.
Now Ruben Amorim has been fired, do you want Marcus Rashford to have another chance at Man Utd?
“It’s a little bit of a fairytale in a way,” Carrick told Sky Sports at the time, as per The Daily Mail in 2016.
“If you had asked Marcus, he would have probably wanted to get himself into the [Man Utd] Under-21s on a regular basis and taken it step by step.
“But he got thrown in after Anthony [Martial’s] injury and he has not looked back since.
“He seems to [be] getting stronger, better and better, and he doesn’t look out of place or as though he’s going to be a quick fix.
“He looks like he’s got all the capabilities of being here for an awfully long time.”
Michael Carrick must show the same faith in Shea Lacey that Louis van Gaal had in Man Utd star Marcus Rashford
One of the better moments from the tail end of Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd managerial reign was the emergence of Shea Lacey in the 2025-26 season.
Ruben Amorim had seen his United first-team squad impacted by both injury setbacks and losing key Red Devils players to the 2025 AFCON tournament.
Shea Lacey was called upon amid Amorim’s woes and the 18-year-old United talent has impressed at times with his three senior cameo appearances this season.
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The Liverpool-born winger came close to opening his goalscoring account last week, only for the crossbar to deny his stunning effort in the 2-2 draw against Burnley.
Lacey was sent off in Man Utd’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton for dissent, but the attacking talent was lively and impressive before his second bookable offence.
The United academy product should be someone that Carrick looks to in the same way that Van Gaal did with Rashford if an injury crisis impacts his interim spell.
Only time will tell if the 2025-26 campaign is the ‘fairytale’ moment for Lacey in a similar way to the 2015-16 season was for Man Utd and England forward Rashford.
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