Marcus Rashford news: Do James rumors affect him?

With James Rodriguez dropping hints about a move to Old Trafford and Real Madrid open to selling him for £50 million, what does this mean for Marcus Rashford?

While many people are excited for the future as Manchester United move into the Jose Mourinho era, one person that might not be so optimistic is 18-year-old starlet Marcus Rashford.

With the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic likely to be announced after Euro 2016 and Real Madrid indicating they are willing to transfer James Rodriguez to United for £50 million, it seems that Rashford may have to put aspirations of a regular starting spot for the Red Devils on hold.

Rodriguez has even begun dropping big hints about a possible move to Old Trafford this summer, and the fact that he shares an agent with Mourinho means this deal could get done very quickly.

Taking all this into account, along with the number of other players united has been linked with during the transfer window (stay up to date with United transfer news here), it seems that Rashford will not be taking the next step in his career to regular starter in the 2016-17 campaign.

Even though Rashford was immense in his debut season, scoring 8 goals in 18 appearances across all competitions, he certainly took advantage of the situation at Old Trafford. Recently sacked manager Louis Van Gaal came into the season without much depth in the striker position, and Rashford was able to take advantage of a squad setup that was indefinitely prone to an injury crisis. With Mourinho coming in and looking to strengthen the squads talent and depth, it seems Rashford will not have that ever lurking possible crisis to capitalize on next season.

While this may seem like a bad thing for the young Englishmen, I think it is a very good position for him to be in at this point in his career. Though he will not be a staple of the starting XI, with the Premier League, Europa League, and two cup competitions slated for United next season, there will not be a shortage of games for him to get into next season. He will most certainly still see at least semi-regular match time next year, and it will be next to some of the most notable names in football. Not only will he be training day in and day out with the likes of James Rodriguez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and whoever else Mourinho brings in, but he will also get to see firsthand how they play the game.

(Photo by Tom Purslow/Man Utd via Getty Images) /

For someone who just signed a long-term deal locking him into United’s future, there is no better way for him to get prepared to be the face of a club. Even if Ibrahimovic is signed for 2 seasons, Rashford will still only be 20 years old when Zlatan leaves the team. The prospect of having another season or two to develop alongside some of the best with little to no pressure being placed on him by the outside viewers makes 20-year-old Marcus Rashford very scary.

If he were to be in the starting XI next season he would have a tremendous amount of pressure, as all players who start for United do, placed on him at a very young age. Fast forward two years when he is more mature, more developed, and has seen significant match time both domestically and in Europe to put him in the starting XI and he is set to be arguably the best player in the Premier League.

What do James Rodriguez rumors mean for Marcus Rashford?

By Jake Fitzgerald-Marcin | Jun 25, 2016

With James Rodriguez dropping hints about a move to Old Trafford and Real Madrid open to selling him for £50 million, what does this mean for Marcus Rashford?