Former Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs said Pep Guardiola rated Marcus Rashford as club’s best player. The former Wales international revealed he had a chat with the former Manchester City’s manager at a dinner, which was hosted by Sir Alex Ferguson, around eight to nine years ago.
Meanwhile, Rashford has rejoined Manchester United after a loan spell at Barcelona in the previous season.
“I’ve gone to Pep and said, ‘Who do you like at United?’” Giggs said on Rio Ferdinand Presents: The Debrief.
“He went, ‘Well, who do you think?’ So I went, ‘De Gea?’ He went, ‘No.’ ‘Luke Shaw?’ ‘No.’
“He said, ‘The best player at Man United, Marcus Rashford. I would take him tomorrow.’
“And I went, ‘Oh, right, okay.’ And that just made me [think], what’s he seeing, Pep? And that was obviously as a centre-forward.”
Rashford had scored twice on his Europa League debut against FC Midtjylland and then scored a brace against Arsenal. But, the forward hasn’t been at his best for the club in the recent years.
Asked how he can win back over the United fans, Giggs said: “Assists. Goals. But also you need to do the, you need, that will get the fans, that will get the fans because forget the other stuff, they’ll forgive you for, you know, dribbling and get tackled or, you know, hitting a shot over. Not all the time, obviously, but they won’t forgive you for not tracking back. They just won’t. And I love Marcus and I want him to do well.
“I wasn’t sure if it was right for him to come back because just the whole hype, it always seems to be around Marcus, and it’s a lot of pressure for him. But he’s got the talent. You know, he was running at players. He was tracking back. Games, just do that. Do that for a season. You will be a superstar.
“I can’t tell you how important that tracking back and winning that tackle is. As a winger for Man United, the crowd will go mad. The crowd will be back on your side. You haven’t touched the ball for 10 minutes and you track back and win a tackle. It’s huge.
“There’s no doubt in his ability. And again, go back to what I originally said. It doesn’t come naturally to him because he’s not an actual wide man. He’s had to learn, sort of, the position. And like you used to say, assists, goals are really important. But also don’t forget that dirty work where you have to sprint back, not jog back, sprint back and win the ball back.”
United will next take on Sabah in the UEFA Champions League on Thursday.
