Young Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford scored a hat-trick on his debut for England under-21’s in a 6-1 victory. It must have been a strange experience for the 18-year-old who has already played and scored for the senior national team.
The youngster went to Euro 2016 but was used sparingly. However, England boss Sam Allardyce decided to demote Rashford to the under-21 team. The decision was understandable considering the striker has spent the season the Manchester United bench.
However, the youngster came off the bench in the Red Devils last Premier League outing to grab a stoppage-time winner in a 1-0 win at Hull City.
His 20-minute cameo at Hull was his first Premier League minutes of the season after he failed to get off the bench in the opening two top-flight games of the campaign.
The big problem for the youngster is the arrival of prolific Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Old Trafford this summer. The 34-year-old is undoubtedly first choice striker for United boss Jose Mourinho and is unlikely to be dropped from the Red Devils starting line-up.
The other problem is that Mourinho sees Wayne Rooney predominantly as a striker, so if Ibrahimovic is not playing up front then Rooney is likely to be. That leaves Rashford in the position of hoping to make appearances from the bench and in lesser competitions.
He will no doubt get those limited chances for the Red Devils, but he may well have been better served going out on loan for this season to another Premier League club to gain some more first-team experience.
It’s incredible to think that Rashford only broke into the United first team earlier this season, but proved to be a very capable player for the Red Devils senior side despite his tender years.
No doubt he will be a very good player in the future. However, a lack of playing time will not help his development, although training alongside the likes of Ibrahimovic and Rooney may just help him improve, so it really is a double-edged sword for the youngster.