Topics: Marcus Rashford, Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Premier League, Football
An 11-year-old Marcus Rashford decided against having a picture with a Manchester United legend because he knew he was going to play alongside them one day.
Five years before he trained with United's first-team for the first time – when David Moyes was in charge – a young Rashford was making a name for himself in the academy set-up.
In fact, at the age of six, Rashford had already trained with the likes of Manchester City, Everton and Newcastle before eventually signing for United following a six-week trial.
Described as a "high flier" by coaches at Carrington, he was living his dream.
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And speaking about his journey in a recent interview with The Players' Tribune, Rashford opened up about getting a lot of attention from other clubs at the age of 10 or 11 years old.
A few clubs offered life-changing money but he remained at United.
Rashford went on to tell a story from that memorable time in his life.
"Money is great. It’s a blessing. But dreams are priceless," he said. "For me, even at 11 years old, playing for United was my only goal.
"I remember around that time, when I was still trying to get signed, Wazza and Cristiano came by to do something with all the academy lads, and I was just looking at them in awe, you know what I mean?
"They had a photographer there, and at the end all us kids had a chance to get a picture with them, and I remember hanging in the back away from everyone. I remember my brother saying, “Go take a picture with Wazza, bro! What are you doing???”
"I said, 'I don’t need a picture.' He said, 'Don’t need a picture???'. I said, 'I’m going to be playing alongside them some day.' I think I was the only kid who didn’t get a photo."
On the topic of Ronaldo, Rashford was once given a special gift from the five-time Ballon d'Or winner – and the item is so important to him that "no-one can touch it".
Prior to them being teammates, Ronaldo had sent Rashford two gifts back in 2018.
He gifted the England international a signed Real Madrid shirt, with the message, "To Marcus, keep up the good work."
And weeks before that, Ronaldo had sent Rashford a pair of red, limited edition Nike Air Max 97 CR7.
The design, named 'Portugal Patchwork', is inspired by Ronaldo's humble beginnings and how his mother Dolores would patch his shoes together when he was a youngster.
Rashford thanked Ronaldo on Instagram but he has actually never worn the kicks and has no plans to.
Speaking to Complex on their 'Sneaker Shopping' feature, the England international said: "No one can touch them. He was one of my favourite players growing up and I like the show.
"I'd love to wear the shoe but if I messed them up, I don't know what I'd do to myself. I'm better to just keep them locked away."
