Originally Posted by
niko_cee
Pay-walled out, but his 'salary' will be something like £150-200k basic (to fit with the half of what is being reported line), with the bulk of the rest in appearance related bonus. It's irrelevant unless it turns him into an indolent spack (he's probably too young for that) but it's still funny in the grander scheme of things.
Thats probably more along the lines of it and someone with 170 first team games and 32 England caps at 21 is probably getting close to that level these days.
For anyone who wants to read, bolded the pay bit
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Marcus Rashford’s commitment to Manchester United flows deeper than the ink on the new four-year contract, with the option to extend for a further year, he signed today; it flows from within. It’s in his blood. He’s a Manchester United fan, hoarding programmes and keeping tickets of games he attended growing up, and motivated now by the mission of getting his famous club fighting for the Premier League and Champions League again. Rashford knows it will take time but is here for the long haul.
He has stood in front of the trophy cabinets at Old Trafford fuelled by a fan’s fervour to fill them further. He has even sat in the stands on non-match days, looking out on to the pitch, reflecting on great games of the past and visualising future glories. On match days, the lad from Wythenshawe via Withington runs out and hears the desire for success of the fans, a craving he shares. “It’s not a job for me,” Rashford says of being a Manchester United footballer. It’s a passion.
So as he sits on the sofa at his neat but unflashy home south of the city, the message is simple and unequivocal. Rashford renewed his vows with United because of his belief in the club’s “values”, in his team-mates and in his manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s “revolution”.
He glides in fresh from a stretching and conditioning session in advance of reporting to Carrington for the new season, doing everything to get mind and body ready. A specially-prepared dinner from his chef waits on the kitchen table. He’s very still, no fidgeting, no glancing at his phone, just focused on the questions and why he loves his club. He’s not driven by money; his new salary is less than half some of the crazier figures mentioned in headlines.
“It is a huge sense of pride and a huge feeling for me to sign the contract,” he says. “Manchester United are one big family. Some clubs don’t have that — it’s just a football club. That’s why Manchester United are more than a football club to me.
“Me being a fan changes the emotional side of it. Say we lose a game, it affects me more than it should because I’m a fan. It hurts every day to see where we are now, [compared] to where we’ve been in the past. I use that pain as motivation. It makes me more determined to put the club back where they belong.
“There’s nothing I want more than to see the club winning the Premier League again, winning the Champions League again. Everybody here deserves much, much more than what we’re giving them right now, not only the fans, the club itself. They don’t deserve to be where they are now. As players, we’re the ones who have the opportunity to try and forget about the past five, six years and put the club back on track.”
Rashford, 21, was raised during the glory years of Sir Alex Ferguson, the Class of ’92, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. “I had United posters on the wall,” he recalls. His mother Melanie proudly keeps a picture of a tiny Rashford, long before his growth spurt, standing in the shadow of a garden hedge, resplendent in full replica United kit. “I used to read a lot of books and programmes on Manchester United,” he continues. “When we used to go games, I used to take programmes home to read. For a long time I used to keep each ticket. If I wasn’t doing that, I was outside playing football.”
He was either in the garden, where he was so keen to make it that he did shuttle runs, or at the local grassroots talent factory, Fletcher Moss Rangers in West Didsbury. “I’ll never forget when United spotted me,” he smiles. “I was six. I was on Fletcher Moss playing fields and there was this mystery man watching. I didn’t think too much of it, just carried on playing. I glanced over again and he was speaking to my mum and brother [Dwaine].”
Rashford carried on scoring goals. “Then they called me over. ‘What’s going on?’ I said. ‘How’s it going mate?’ the mystery man said. ‘You OK?’ He then said where he was from. Manchester United. Woah. I never expected someone from United to be there. I yelled. I was buzzing. It put a spring in my step for a lifetime. I know I was that young — six — and most people aren’t thinking of playing for someone’s first team at that age, but when he said he was from Manchester United, straight away nothing was going to get in my way of fulfilling my dream.”
Within a year, he was in the club’s academy. “The dream of playing for Manchester United was there from the beginning. When I then moved to Carrington when I was 11, and saw the players first hand, that’s when it became ‘it is possible’.
“I like the foundations of the club, the morals. Obviously the football was beautiful but as I got older, 10, 11, I fell in love with the club, not just the football. It’s the values. United teach you to be good people before they teach you to be good players. That, for me, is the biggest thing. When you go home to your parents, you’re a better person every day. Little things like in the morning you have to shake everyone’s hands. When you leave you have to do the same, whether training’s been good or bad.”
He knows all about the history of the club, the Busby Babes, the Munich disaster, the Class of ’92, the treble. “It is important to know the history. Honestly, the amount of tours we did of Old Trafford. I must have been on at least seven tours. From about nine [years old], one tour a year. We went around as a team, walk around the building. Especially the trophy cabinet, that’s the place that wows you. Then go to the pitch, sit in the stand for 20 minutes, in silence, just listen to the noise around. To visualise everything that happens there.
“United’s style is relentless. Every United team I’ve played for, we’ve always attacked, and it doesn’t matter if you are winning three or four nil, you want to score another goal. I grew up watching the first team do it, and just wanted to replicate that.
“In the academy, I used to look at how the first team were as a group. We used to go on the balcony, and watch them do their gym work and then they’d all go together out on the pitch and start their training. Everyone’s together.
“I was quite shy. I wasn’t one to take pictures of the players. In the beginning, I just used to watch and take in as much as I could. When I started the scholarship [aged 11], I got a bit closer. You can be eating at the same time as them, and they say hello. It’s a club for learning. That’s the DNA of a Manchester United player, adapting and learning to play the Manchester United style as well. That will never change.”
The DNA, which Solskjaer seeks to bring back to the fore, is boldness, attacking, never giving up and the energy of youth graduates. The walls of Carrington are covered with pictures of home-grown legends, inspiring academy pupils. “I remember when I was younger and walked through those buildings, and there was David Beckham, Gary Neville, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Ryan Giggs. For me, they were motivation every day. We used to see the pictures and watch them [the Class of ’92] on the weekend or midweek playing for United, that was our drive. Now when we go back it’s got us on the wall. It’s a bit breathtaking to be honest.
“Seeing the Manchester United shirt with my name on it hung up in the dressing room for the first time was the biggest feeling I’ve had in football.” It was at Watford on November 21, 2015. “I didn’t play but just seeing the shirt holds a huge importance to me. Nothing can replace that. We’ve had some brilliant moments since then, but that moment is in my heart, it is the best moment. It meant my dream was closer — and it was Manchester United. Seeing my name was emotional, but seeing the badge . . . is an even stronger emotion. It’s the badge that drives me. If I do well for the badge then people will remember me.
“I feel the fans’ energy. It’s positive energy for me. That atmosphere helps me. There are moments in games where I might be tired, in a difficult moment, and that positive energy from the fans keeps you going and nine times out of ten you get through it.”
United fans first saw him in competitive action on February 25, 2016, against Midtjylland in the Europa League at Old Trafford. Anthony Martial got injured in the warm-up, Rashford stepped in, and scored twice. He was calm and ready. “That’s what Manchester United are brilliant at. That’s why so many young players can come through. United get all the DNA — in how they like to play — into your body from a young age, so when you step out on to the field it comes naturally, you just enjoy it. All the core values just come out of you.
“They prepare you to take responsibility. Coming through United’s academy you have to be ready to do that. It’s like with the penalty against Paris Saint-Germain.” It was last March, the last minute at Parc des Princes, and Rashford struck from the spot, winning the Champions League tie. “Fearless,” was Solskjaer’s verdict.
“United prepare you for those moments,” Rashford added. “I felt ready. It’s not thinking too much, just go and take the penalty. In my head, it was simple.” He practises daily. “I take ten balls after training, take ten penalties, and it can get you in a rhythm.” He’s presumably practising against David de Gea. “I know! He’s good! But you want to go against the best! If you’re training with the best, you learn more than you probably learn in games.”
He strives constantly to develop his game, working on his left foot and heading. He draws on Solskjaer’s pedigree as a predator of the penalty box. “There are loads of things I learn from him in training, whether he’s just speaking to me or doing a session. It’s about learning more from the manager about when the ball’s in wide areas, and second phase. A lot of the goals he scored were goals where someone had a shot and it’s a rebound, or somebody crossed it in and somebody cleared. If it’s second phase, he was one of the best at scoring. I’m learning so these habits become natural.”
Rashford enjoys Solskjaer’s management. “He just gets it. He understands. He’s been a player here. He knows how we may feel in certain moments because he’s been there himself. The fact that he understands us way more than a normal manager is why he’s fitted in straight away.”
He believes the Solskjaer “revolution” will work. “That’s what drives me every day. If I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t be waking up every morning and giving 100 per cent to try and put the club back where they belong. I believe in the players, the staff and the manager. The players have the faith in the manager now. If we’re going to do it, now’s the time. We’re looking forward to the new season. One season is not going to change it. It can take two or three seasons but I feel we’re ready to take the first step, and really start showing people that we are Manchester United.”
New players are arriving, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, both 21 like Rashford. “Manchester United are renowned for having hungry, young players, whether they’re bringing them in or buying them,” Rashford continued. “That bedding-in period is important. We do the most we can individually and as a team to make new players feel comfortable, because once they feel comfortable United can be a beautiful place.”
That helping hand extends to the community. He’s a role model, proud to be showing a pathway for those from his old areas. “In the places that I’ve lived, on the journey to where I am now, people have difficult challenges in life. It gives people faith and hope that I’m from the local area. To see success coming from the area, everyone’s proud of it. That’s what special about these places. Seeing players like Danny Welbeck pushing through to the first team gave me motivation. Danny grew up in Longsight, not far from my family house so for him to do it drives everybody on.
“When I’m back from where I’m from, Wythenshawe, it’s all relaxed. It’s very rare they ask me for pictures, they prefer to just have a chat. They might want you to speak to their kids. It’s important to always remember where you come from, if you can go back and give advice, I do it.”
Talk is not simply about United. “Football’s not for everyone. We speak about anything. If I can help them in any way, I do it. I say, ‘if you approach it in a positive manner, and always tell yourself that you’re going to get where you want to, whether it’s dance, music, football, it doesn’t matter how long it’ll take you, you will reach that goal’. It’s aspirational.”
As well as leading the community, and leading the line, Rashford wants to be leading the team out in the future. “That’s a lot of kids’ dreams, to captain Manchester United. It’s a responsibility I’d definitely be keen on doing when the time is right. Whether I have the armband or not, it’s good to be a leader within the team. Different people drag you through different stages of the game. Everybody needs to be a leader. Being captain would be the moment that would probably overtake that feeling of seeing the shirt for the first time. If you are leading the team out, that would be a special moment.”
United’s No 10 emphasises he’s not in it for individual acclaim but for collective glory. “For me, you don’t chase the most goals, you don’t chase someone’s record. If it’s going to happen, it will happen naturally. I want to be the best I can be every day. If I can do that I’m giving the club the best chance to be where we need to be. I just feel proud to have the opportunity to be in a position to help the team get back to being the successful Manchester United. That’s what I’m determined to do.”