Manchester United and Marcus Rashford ‘continue discussions over a new deal’

Manchester United and Marcus Rashford are reportedly continuing discussions over a new contract with the club said to be confident they will tie the player down to fresh terms. 

Rashford, 25, has experienced a renaissance in form this season as he leads Erik ten Hag’s revolution at the club. The England international has scored 16 goals in all competitions, including decisive finishes against Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League.

However, the Manchester Evening News and The Sun now report that the club are keen to reward his impressive return to form.   

Marcus Rashford has experienced a renaissance in form this term under manager Erik ten Hag

Having seen a dramatic downturn in form over the past few seasons, owing to a number of factors including injury and reported issues in his personal life, Rashford has reignited his United career this season. It had been thought that with only a year left on his deal last summer he could end up leaving the club. 

Erik ten Hag has sought to introduce a salary cap at the club to stave off issues that have plagued the club in recent years related to dressing room jealously over wages, as exclusively revealed by Sportsmail this month. 

Dubbed the ‘Ronaldo Rule’, the club will no longer pay superstars northwards of £300,000 per week to avoid breaking their squad’s wage structure. Negotiations currently ongoing with David De Gea have made it clear to the goalkeeper the new rules in place. 

It is not exactly clear how this will impact the negotiations with Rashford, but with the forward having again evidenced his importance to the Dutch manager’s side this season, he has a strong hand in negotiations. 

The forward has experienced difficulties in recent years but looks back to his best this season

He has established himself as one of the leaders in manager Ten Hag’s side this season

In addition to having recovered his place among United’s best players, the World Cup also saw him reassert his position among Gareth Southgate’s most valued England players. Having been a doubt to even make the squad last autumn, he started in one of the group games and scored three times in all as England reached the quarter-finals. 

Having struggled under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his final days and Ralf Rangnick latterly, Rashford has recovered this season to re-establish himself as one of the club’s foremost players. 

With Paris Saint-Germain circulating as they seek a restructuring of their forward line with Neymar and Lionel Messi both the wrong side of 30, United have been keen to get Rashford signed on to new terms. 

The report states that any agreement is not imminent with a number of issues still to be thrashed out, but that the club are unperturbed by his situation with the feeling that both parties want the same thing. 

Decisive goal involvements against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City have helped his return to the top of his game

Rashford’s deal had been due to expire this forthcoming summer but the club triggered an option in his deal to extend it by a further 12 months. 

His goals this season have been decisive in Ten Hag’s side’s rise up the table, recovering from their diabolical start to the season in which Rashford was seen as culpable as any player in the poor results. 

However, he has since become one of Ten Hag’s most trusted lieutenants, with his leadership on the pitch obvious in both his play and how he converses with team-mates. 

He appears to have recovered some of that speed and explosiveness that defined his early years

In amongst his stunning form, he has also matched a record that has stood for 64 years, becoming the first United player since Dennis Viollet in 1959 to score in nine consecutive Old Trafford games. 

The player himself has been complimentary of the changes hailed in by Ten Hag’s arrival and his swift impact on all aspects of the club. 

‘It’s a completely different mindset to last season, a different team playing different football,’ Rashford said after the win over Nottingham Forest during the festive period. 

‘For me, when you’re not in the team and coming on there is a different mindset and you have to think about making an impact and you’re not sure when you get another chance or another goal. But I’m enjoying what I’m doing at the minute.’