Marcus Rashford gives Kobbie Mainoo brilliant advice that Wayne Rooney told him in 2016

Marcus Rashford has provided some interesting advice to fellow Manchester United academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo who has been called up to the England squad.

Rashford, 26, is now one of the most experienced players in the United dressing room and for those rising within the academy, he will be the player that they often look towards.

He made that journey in quite tremendous fashion, bursting onto the scene in February 2016 with back-to-back braces against Midtjylland and Arsenal.

Mainoo did not experience an immediate introduction as eventful, but the 18-year-old midfielder has proven his immense quality so much that he essentially forced his way into the latest England squad.

Rashford did similar in 2016 ahead of the European Championship that summer. Moving from Carrington to St George’s Park, he had his hero and United teammate Wayne Rooney alongside him.

Now, fast forward eight years, and Rashford is the one showing teenage Kobbie the ropes at England’s training ground. Interestingly, that’s not the only thing he has taken from Rooney.

When comparing a recent interview from Rashford to one that he did alongside Rooney before Euro 2016, it’s interesting to note the kind of advice both would offer their young teenage teammate.

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Rooney speaking about Rashford and then Rashford speaking about Mainoo – both times the senior player made it clear that they should not be constantly fed messages of advice and instead should be able to focus on doing exactly what put them in the first-team environment.

In an England interview in 2016, Rooney said: “The most important thing is to enjoy it. There isn’t that pressure on you to consistently perform, which may be on the older lads, you’ve got that freedom to play and have no fear.

“I always think for young lads, it’s probably better to leave them and not fill them with advice – ‘you should do this, you should do that’ – just let them go and play because that’s what got them in the position they’re in today.”

In comparison, Rashford had an interview with United’s club media earlier this month, and the topic of his young teammate came up.

“For a player like him, it’s not so much what you tell him – he’s very sure in his abilities and he’s going to play what he sees fit, which is a huge skillset in its own,” said Rashford of Mainoo.

“It’s about encouraging him to do that. He’s getting fed a lot of messages, ‘try this, do that’ – not taking away his natural abilities or instincts is probably the biggest thing we can do for him as players.

“I always tell him to play what he sees, I think that’s his key strengths as a player and what he does naturally very, very well. So don’t turn away from that and tell him to do anything different to what he’s really good at.”