Red Devils defender Luke Shaw has paid tribute to an exciting academy graduate who sets the standard for fellow youngsters at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
Marcus Rashford has \u201clooked unstoppable at times this season\u201d, says Luke Shaw, who\u2019s confident that the United forward\u00a0forward has every chance of winning the Ballon d’Or at some point in his career.<\/p>\n
At just 22 years of age, the highly-rated frontman is approaching the end of a fifth season as part of the Red Devils\u2019 first-team set-up.<\/p>\n
Having been given his big break by Louis van Gaal in 2016, Rashford has now taken in 201 appearances for United and recorded 64 goals \u2013 including a personal best return of 19 goals this season so far.<\/p>\n
With injury having threatened to bring his 2019-20 campaign to a premature conclusion prior to the coronavirus outbreak, he is now back to being fully fit and all ready to bring his star prowess back to the pitch when the Premier League action resumes soon.<\/p>\n
Shaw expects Rashford to remain a key figure for the Red Devils, and continuing on an upward trajectory with his impressive development<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s improved greatly from when he first came on the scene, not just on the pitch, but off the pitch as well,\u201d Shaw told United\u2019s official website\u00a0<\/em>when asked by a supporter if Rashford can win the Ballon d’Or one day.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s matured so much. He\u2019s really turned into a man and I think everyone\u2019s seen the way he\u2019s conducted himself off the pitch; especially during this pandemic, he\u2019s been unbelievable.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a massive example to everyone. He\u2019s matured so much and a lot of credit for that goes to him and also to his family, who have kept him very grounded.\u201d<\/p>\n United have always been able to pride themselves on their cultivation of home-generated talent, with Rashford being another of their success stories.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a big inspiration for a lot of young people, especially the ones who are coming through from Manchester,\u201d Shaw added on Rashford, who he works with at club and international level.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Marcus, they\u2019ve got someone to look up to not just on the pitch but off it too, which is really nice to see. As a player, he\u2019s improved so much but he always wants to learn, always wants to get better and, to me, he\u2019s getting better every time I see him play.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s looked unstoppable at times this season and he\u2019s looked so confident. I haven\u2019t seen that in him before. He was always confident, but not to this level, and he\u2019s matured so much.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows he has the ability to be one of the best and he\u2019s pushing himself all the time to maximise that. There\u2019s no reason why, if he keeps going, keeps pushing himself, that he can\u2019t win it (the Ballon d’Or) one day.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"