Manchester United have finally agreed to a new long-term deal for star forward Marcus Rashford, and the news has seemingly gone down very well with fans such as The Football Terrace host Terry Flewers, who thinks "there is more to come from Marcus Rashford."
Marcus Rashford signs a new contract
This summer has been a strange one for United fans. Even with the impossible-to-ignore takeover saga hanging over everything the club has done, they have been incredibly proactive in the transfer market thus far.
The first deal that was sorted was the signing of Chelsea academy star and former fan favourite Mason Mount, who joined the Red Devils for a fee of around £55m.
Next, the club turned their attention to the goalkeeping department, specifically Erik ten Hag's former number one, Andre Onana. That deal looks to be now all but complete, for a fee said to be in the region of £47m.
And now, with reports the club will look to bring in exciting young striker Rasmus Hojlund, they have also announced a new long-term deal with club star, Rashford.
With his previous deal set to expire next year, pinning him down to a new one was immensely important to ten Hag's project, something that has been reflected in the Manchester-born star's new wage, a whopping £325,000-a-week.
Unsurprisingly, United fans have been overwhelmingly pleased with the recent developments, especially The Football Terrace host Terry Flewers.
He expressed his excitement at the news on his YouTube channel, saying:
"I'm over the moon. I'm over the moon for a number of reasons, the first one being he got his head down and got himself back, not just to his best, but beyond his previous best.
"I still think there is more to come from Marcus Rashford. I still think there are more goals, more assists, more trophies for him to help us win. I'm also proud of the way ten Hag handled this. He rated him, he knew that he could get back to that level, but did not allow him to get a new deal until he had proven it.
"That's the thing in life; theory versus reality. In theory, we should have given Rashford a new deal last year, but he had to prove in reality that he could get back to the best levels. And right now, in my personal opinion, there are no attainable left-hand-sided forwards that are better than Marcus Rashford."
How good was Marcus Rashford last season?
Despite enjoying spells of brilliance for Manchester United over the seven years since his debut for the club, Rashford has often been criticised for being too inconsistent. Well, last season, he proved any doubters wrong, as he was consistently brilliant.
According to WhoScored, the 25-year-old dynamo averaged a seriously impressive match rating of 7.08 across his 35 Premier League games last season, scoring 17 goals and providing five assists to his teammates, meaning he produced a goal contribution every one-and-a-half games – elite.
His underlying numbers are equally outstanding and just go to show that his output last year was not fortunate but genuinely reflective of his actual ability.
According to FBref, who compare players in a similar position across Europe's top five leagues, the "incredible" forward sits in the top 1% for non-penalty goals and non-penalty expected goals, the top 2% for total shots, the top 8% for touches in the oppositions penalty area and the top 8% for expected goals and assists, all per 90.
His exploits last year clearly impressed his five-time Champions League-winning teammate Casemiro, who said:
"What a spectacular player. I'm enjoying so much playing with him. He gives us a lot of energy. I'm delighted to play with him. And I' sure if he stays like this, with the conditions he has, he can easily be a top five player because he's exceptional."
With his future secure, will we see the Boyhood United fan reach an even higher level next season? It certainly feels like a possibility.
