MARCUS RASHFORD believes playing and training alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made him a better player before vowing – ‘you will see the benefits’.
The young striker looks set be handed further opportunities in Manchester United’s first-team following the serious injury to the towering Swede.
The 19-year-old is one of United’s hottest prospects after bursting onto the scene under former boss Louis van Gaal last season.
And his form has continued under the Portuguese boss but Rashford believes Ibrahimovic’s influence is making the whole team better players.
Speaking to the Telegraph, he said: “His influence on the younger players, especially, is fantastic.
“We want that to continue because he is making us into better players.
“What I have learnt from him is irreplaceable. You will see the benefits in years to come.”
Despite going more than six months without a goal earlier in the campaign, Rashford admits his game has developed from last season.
He added: “Now, when I go to the left or right, I see it differently to how I pictured it last season. They are things I didn’t have naturally inside me.
“I didn’t feel uncomfortable in the wide role, but when something is different it takes a while to get used to it. For me the development has been going great all the way through.”
Rashford, who has scored three goals in his last five matches, is sticking with the Manchester United’s old black boot policy.
He admits growing through United’s youth team ranks means his first choice would always be a black boot.
Rashford said: “Growing up here at United there was a black-boot-only policy, I think it might have only just gone, but from being a kid here at nine years old there has always been that.
“I will probably always wear them. Nowadays with sponsorships it is a case of, ‘There is the boot, you wear it’ and there is not much you can do about it. However, if it was my choice, it would always be black.”
