Man City Rejected Man United Youngster Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford, the 18-year-old who discovered only minutes before kick-off that he would be starting in one of the most important games for Manchester United this season, ended up dazzling everyone by scoring twice on his senior debut – but he could have ended up doing the same for their noisy neighbours Manchester City!

Manchester City rejected Marcus Rashford because they thought he was too small for his age, according to the striker’s former youth coach.

The Wythenshawe-born teenager began his career at Fletcher Moss Rangers, just like Danny Welbeck, Ravel Morrison, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Tyler Blackett and Zeki Fryers.

“His brother Dwayne was with him when he came to us,” the club’s secretary, Ron Jamieson, told The Times.

“He was touting him to Manchester City at the time but the recruitment officer there did not fancy him because he was a bit on the small side and didn’t pick him up.

“We took him to the [Champion of Champions] tournament and all the scouts were there. Everton were very keen and Manchester United.

“It was advantageous for us to push him towards United so he went there and the rest is history.”