Rashford facing crossroads with Manchester United dream souring

Saturday 30 October, Tottenham versus Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: Marcus Rashford is a picture of lissome menace, leaving Eric Dier and Emerson Royal in a different postcode as, on 86 minutes, he glides on to Nemanja Matic’s ball and, with zero doubt, beats Hugo Lloris to seal a 3-0 win.

This Saturday, Manchester United versus Tottenham, Old Trafford: Rashford does, now, harbour doubt. Will he be selected by Ralf Rangnick? Will he reverse the sputtering form that has yielded four league goals in 18 appearances at 217 minutes each. And, will he remain at his boyhood club beyond the summer?

Rashford at a crossroads, debating whether his United career should end. There is a disconnect here, a dislocation. The lad from Wythenshawe’s living of the dream has soured. It was never meant to be this way.

In the 18 months after his debut, Rashford won the FA Cup, Europa League and League Cup. He made his England bow, played at Euro 2016 and scored on his senior, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League and international debuts. All before turning 20 after Louis van Gaal first selected him in February 2016.

Rashford has the armoury of the prototype elite forward. His is a vibrant cocktail of youth, a slim and powerful 6ft 1in inch frame and afterburner pace. He can dribble, he tries tricks, he is a leader – on and off the field.

And, there is something else – it seemed. A hunger for, the revelling in, being asked to rise to the occasion as at Parc des Princes in March 2019. Rewind to then: the score is Paris Saint-Germain 1 United 2, the aggregate 3-2 in the final seconds of a Champions League last-16 second leg. Rashford has already hounded Thilo Kehrer into making the error that leads to Romelu