Marcus Rashford tells Man United teammates to avoid making Kobbie Mainoo advice mistake

Marcus Rashford has told his Manchester United teammates the best thing they can offer the talented youngster Kobbie Mainoo.

Rashford, 26, knows all about the feeling of emerging as one of United’s most important players in such a quick way. The forward introduced himself in tremendous fashion in 2016 and is now an experienced player in the squad.

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His teammate and fellow academy graduate Mainoo has followed a similar path. Coming into the team during an injury crisis and stamping his authority on the side – albeit in a different position.

Mainoo has become a key figure in Erik ten Hag’s midfield. His ability is impressive, but perhaps more so is his composure and confidence in the first-team environment.

When speaking to club media about the youngster, Rashford explained that the playing squad must encourage Mainoo to keep playing his natural game and not suppress his natural instincts.

“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.

“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.”

Rashford has now played 393 games for United, scoring 130 goals and registering 74 assists in that time.