Manchester United ended up having a solid transfer window, bringing in a total of six players for a combined total of over £200 million.
The start was sluggish and the club ended up paying the price, losing their opening two games against Brighton and Brentford.
The club hierarchy was then jolted into action, and big-money moves for Casemiro and Antony followed.
Rashford’s impact
One rumour which persisted till Deadline Day was whether Cristiano Ronaldo would leave the club or not. Despite his agent Jorge Mendes’ best attempts, a move away to a Champions League club could not be engineered.
Man Utd get huge injury boost with Marcus Rashford winning fitness battle ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby #MUFC https://t.co/42jBKH8quX pic.twitter.com/ynre1rgnVB
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) September 27, 2022
The Portuguese did not attend pre-season due to personal reasons and that meant United were short of options upfront. Christian Eriksen had to play as make-shift centre-forward against Brighton and the ploy backfired spectacularly.
Erik ten Hag then turned to Marcus Rashford from the Liverpool game and the Mancunian repaid his manager’s faith by netting the winner as the Old Trafford club emerged 2-1 victors.
And Rashford has not looked back since, starting the next three Premier League games on the trot, scoring two more and adding two assists as well as United went on a four-match unbeaten run.
Ten Hag has been so impressed with the 24-year-old’s displays that he feels Rashford is better suited as his team’s striker than Ronaldo and feels the United academy graduate can cross the 20-goal mark for the season.
Rashy’s comeback in Manchester Derby
It represented a remarkable turnaround for the Englishman after suffering abuse and loss of form last season.
However, Rashford suffered a muscle injury which subsequently saw him miss out on the chance to play against Real Sociedad and Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League.
But fans will be delighted to know that he is closing in on full fitness and The Sun have now claimed that “Marcus Rashford is winning his battle to be fit for Sunday’s Manchester derby.”
Ten Hag will be desperate to have a full-strength squad to choose from for this crucial game and Rashford’s availability will boost confidence throughout the squad.
“Rashford is now training again — and feels ready for the Etihad showdown,” the report further claimed.
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