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.
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Described as a "high flier" by coaches at Carrington, he was living his dream.
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.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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"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."
Topics: Marcus Rashford, Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Premier League, Football
Jack Kenmare