Ji-sung Park hailed Manchester United youngster Marcus Rashford’s development and mentality after the striker’s first full season of senior football.

The former-United man was speaking ahead of playing in a legends' match for the Reds against Barcelona and the South Korean tipped Rashford for further success in an interview with the club’s official TV channel, MUTV.

Park: Rashford has done "really well"

Rashford broke through under Louis van Gaal due to an injury in the warm-up suffered by Anthony Martial. He’s not looked back since, featuring consistently for United on the left-wing and up front, and for England, including at Euro 2016.

His rise has been remarkable and although it levelled out somewhat last season in terms of making the headlines, Park said he has been impressed with Rashford in his first full season in United’s first season.

Rashford has done well to cope with expectations, says Park

“Rashford has done really well,” Park said. “He had a great first season, and then people had really high expectations. But he showed his quality on the pitch in the second season.”

Park also praised Rashford’s capacity to cope with the increased attention. The 19-year-old has kept his circle of friends extremely closeknit, he’s spoken to the media once or twice in a very high-profile 18 months of football.

“He’s improving with that pressure on him, and that is quite impressive for me,” said Park. “If he can keep doing things like he is now, and progressing, he can be one of the best players."

Rashford was forced to replace Zlatan last season

As things stand, Rashford will be United's first choice striker next season after the departure of 28-man Zlatan Ibrahimović. The Swede suffered a serious knee ligament injury in April which required surgery. Rashford took his place and did well, no doubt earning the further trust of manager José Mourinho. Despite that, United will sign a striker this transfer window, with Alvaro Morata the most strongly linked forward.

The Real Madrid man has been linked to the Reds for the last month now, but Spanish club's president Florentino Perez denied negotiations are ongoing between the two superclubs. A deal would likely rise to £60m.

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About the author
Harry Robinson
Deputy Editor-in-Chief at VAVEL UK, and Manchester United Editor.