COMMENT: Don't do it, Marcus. DON'T DO IT!
No matter what Jay-Z and his henchmen claim they can do for you, just don't listen. Now isn't the time to be signing your life away.
It broke on Sunday morning that the sports arm of Jay-Z's management firm, Roc Nation, was targeting Marcus Rashford for their fledging football department - which so far boasts Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng and, well, no-one else...
For the moment, Rashford's affairs are sorted out by his family. And at 18, with more first team than U21 games under his belt, why change? He's leading the line for the biggest team on the planet. There's no reason to worry about 'getting his'. The sponsors will come to him. The endorsement offers will flood in. He could effectively be the first Manchester-born No9 at United in modern times. Keep going as he is and it'd be the easiest five per cent earned by any agent fortunate enough to befriend his family.
But that's for the future. Seven goals from 12 games? At this level, the lad's certainly arrived. But can he stay there?
"Everything he does is of the cuff," a source, who has been involved with Roma and Juventus international academies, told Tribalfootball.com. "The best we've seen from him is what he does on instinct.
"He's still an unknown quantity, which certainly helps."
And that's just it. What happens when opposition defences have worked out Rashford's strengths? Can he add more tools to his locker?
The dramatic change of pace? Canny defenders will adjust to that. The step over and dip of his shoulder? An experienced fullback will now know that's coming. Being caught under the ball? He'll be maneuvered more and more into such situations.
Danny Mills, the former Manchester City fullback, copped a lot of grief when refusing to hype up Rashford's teammate, Tim Fosu-Mensah, and his FA Cup performance at West Ham. But take the emotion out of who was saying what and Mills' words ring true:
"It's whether they can do it seven to 20 games. You've never quite made it until you've played 50 games."
50 games? We can perhaps make a call a little sooner. But you can apply the same comments to Rashford.
It's exciting seeing a local lad make it on the big stage. And he is exciting. As his confidence has grown, we're seeing more and more of those feints and swerves that convinced Rashford's junior coaches his future would be as a winger. But now the hard work really begins.
United coaching staff, including Louis van Gaal, had been eager to ease the hype around the teen. But that horse has bolted. His game is now being pulled apart inside every boot room in the Premier League. For Rashford, it's now about staying a step ahead and keeping the opposition guessing.
Of course, on the Carrington training pitch, he couldn't have a better mentor to lean on than Ryan Giggs. The fast-tracking of Rashford mirrors what Sir Alex Ferguson and Archie Knox did with Giggs 25 years ago. And like Rashford, as soon as Giggs was handed his chance, there was no holding him back.
The Welshman has spoken of using every summer in those early years to develop a new trick. And that's sure to be the advice the assistant manager will be drilling home to Rashford.
For now, his goals are explosive. He's scoring on reflex. We'll know Rashford really is here to stay when he starts hitting the back of the net like Harry Kane. And no, we're not talking about the amount of goals the Tottenham striker has struck over the past 18 months. Instead, it's the manner in which he scores. He rarely blasts away, instead his goalscoring catalog is dominated by him hitting the inside of the side-netting. Hour-upon-hour, day-after-day, it's a finishing ability honed on the grounds of Spurs Lodge.
Mark Hughes' volleys. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first-time drives. The snap and purpose behind Ruud van Nistelrooy's finishing. These were all weapons developed on the Carrington training pitch.
And this is what Rashford should be focusing on. Eat. Sleep. Train. Repeat. That's it.
In time, the endorsements will come. There's no reason to go chasing such things. Jay-Z may be big time. But he's no Manchester United. Marcus, you don't need anyother doors opened for you.
INJURY TIME
There's a point being missed by those concerned about Jose Mourinho and whether he will back the kids at Manchester United.
The kids they're talking about are already first teamers. Marcus Rashford, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Jesse Lingard, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson... they've already proved themselves at Premier League level. And if Mourinho does land the job, you can also add Renato Sanches, the Benfica midfielder, who at 18 is a Champions League player.
This is the sort of locker room that Mourinho thrives in. There's no senior leadership group moaning and groaning "we didn't do it this way under Fergie" as what confronted David Moyes. It's a squad that Mourinho can shape to his personality. And develop his culture.
There won't be any need for compromise. Louis van Gaal will leave the squad just as Mourinho would have liked. He'll top it up with senior talent. But the former Chelsea manager, just as he did with Frank Lampard and John Terry, will welcome the chance to work with a young group not yet set in their ways.
