Manchester United have held positive talks with Marcus Rashford’s representatives, raising hopes the England striker will sign a new five-year contract at Old Trafford worth £150,000-a-week. Rashford’s current deal runs out next summer – although United have an option to extend it by a further 12 months – and he is set to more than double his current salary.
The 21-year-old has produced the best form of his young career under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scoring eight goals in 18 games under the Norwegian coach. Rashford gets on particularly well with Solskjaer having benefited from the former United striker’s expert knowledge of the position and commitment to promoting the club’s young players.
There were fears he was losing his way at United under Jose Mourinho amid interest from some of Europe’s top clubs, but talks have gone well since Solskjaer took over in December, and United’s decision to appoint the caretaker manager on a permanent basis this week will only work in their favour in negotiations with Rashford’s camp. Talks with Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and David de Gea have not gone quite as smoothly, however, with United insisting that pay rises for the three Spaniards must be fair to both sides.
De Gea has another year left on his contract but Herrera and Mata will be free agents at the end of the season. Herrera is attracting interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, but Solskjaer is hopeful the club can reach a compromise with his representatives.
‘Ander has been very good since I came in and we want the best players in this club,’ said the United boss. ‘Let’s hope the club and player find an agreement. We will have a strong squad next season.’
Meanwhile, Solskjaer has provided an exclusive team news ahead of Saturday’s return to Premier League action against Watford. A number of Reds stars were forced to withdraw from their international squads due to various injury niggles, but only three players have definitely been ruled out of the boss’s plans for the 15:00 GMT kick-off. Alexis Sanchez is back at the club as he steps up his recovery from a knee problem, while defenders Matteo Darmian and Antonio Valencia are also still out.
“We’ve had a very good training week,” “Some have been away and have come back okay. ”
Alexis has just come back and there is only him who is out, along with Matteo and Antonio. Those three are out.
“We’ll have to check on one or two of the others.”
In terms of options up front, Romelu Lukaku missed the Emirates FA Cup tie with Wolves and Belgium’s subsequent Euro 2020 qualifiers with a foot problem, while fellow forwards Anthony Martial (France) and Marcus Rashford (England) also missed out for their respective countries.
Eric Bailly sustained a head injury with Ivory Coast in a win over Rwanda and sat out the latter fixture against Liberia as a precaution. Jesse Lingard has been stepping up his fitness during the break after featuring at Molineux and should hopefully be available.
Watford welcome Greek full-back Jose Holebas back into the fold after injury, but Tom Cleverley will not be able to enjoy an Old Trafford reunion after the former United man suffered a calf problem. Hornets boss Javi Gracia has all of the other members of his 26-man squad available as the FA Cup semi-finalists look forward to a big week for the club.