Manchester United fans were left asking 'who?' when the official team-sheet dropped for the Europa League home match against FC Midtjylland four years ago.
The Danish champions brought a 2-1 first leg lead to Old Trafford for the return fixture, and United famously were forced to rely on an unknown teenager called Marcus Rashford following injury to Anthony Martial in the warm-up.
Rashford netted an incredible debut double within the space 12 second-half minutes to introduce himself to his now adoring fans and take the football world by storm. The England international was one of two youngsters to make his debut during the win, along with Regan Poole, while Joe Riley earned his first senior start after an injury to Chris Smalling. Of the trio, few outsiders would have expected it to be Rashford that would still be at the club these years later.
However, for two of his teammates it was really no surprise.
Three months earlier Rashford made a United match-day squad for the first time for the away trip to face Watford in the Premier League. The then 18-year-old had plundered six goals in 11 Premier League Under-18 games that season, while he also netted a double in the Uefa Youth league win at PSV Eindhoven and a penalty against Wolfsburg.
His reward was to train with the United first-team and his immediate impact left a lasting impression on Spanish midfield duo Ander Herrera and Juan Mata.
"Everyone knows that he is a special player," Mata recollected of Rashford earlier this week. "I have to admit that in the first training that he did with us in the first team, it was Louis van Gaal that was our manager, and after the training, we did a little game and he was playing on the right side, and, after everything finished, Ander Herrera came to me and said: 'Do you see this player? How good he is? He will be a player for us.'
"He realised straightaway. After one training session, Ander knew that this guy was something special."
Despite travelling down to Vicarage Road the young striker would have to wait until February before his sliding doors moment came, and he quickly made up for lost time with his famous debut brace.
Rather fittingly the trio all started the 5-1 win over FC Midtjylland, and four years latter Rashford has not only fulfilled Herrera's prediction, but he has already outshone his adoring mentor's legacy at United.
The England international has transformed from academy hopeful to senior striker but more incredibly he has done so as a key figure under the guidance of three very different managers. In just over four years Rashford has netted 64 goals in 201 appearances and is regarded as a focal figure for both the future and present at Old Trafford. It really is hard to comprehend such a rise.
There is nobody younger in the Premier League who has the same pressure as Rashford on their shoulders, and few in world football who deliver quite as consistently as he does, particularly remarkable when you take into account his attacking versatility.
Rashford is now playing his best football under the freedom of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and it is frightening to think that his best years are still someway ahead of him.
There is still a lot of hard work for the youngster to do, and the manner in which he overcomes such a serious back injury will be the next test of an already incredible career. His current lay-off came about because United are already so over reliant on his services, which is ironically probably the best proof he has already proven Herrera right.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com