Youri Tielemans on Marcus Rashford's Manchester United Reunion

Youri Tielemans is relishing his reunion with Marcus Rashford at Manchester United – and he is convinced the forward can still reshape the narrative of his Old Trafford career if he is trusted with a real chance this season.

Rashford has rejoined first‑team training at his boyhood club this week after 18 months in exile, spent out on loan and frozen out by former United manager Ruben Amorim. His long-term future remains uncertain. Barcelona, where he spent last season, turned down the option to make his move permanent for £26million.

Before that, Rashford’s escape route ran through Aston Villa. He arrived in the Midlands for the second half of the 2024-25 campaign, at the height of a storm around his relationship with Amorim and the noise that followed him off the pitch.

Under that glare, he still delivered. Rashford helped drive Villa to the Champions League quarter-finals, where they fell to eventual winners PSG, and Tielemans watched him up close as the forward rebuilt his game under pressure.

“He was great,” Tielemans said. “There had been so much talk about him and bringing pressure and the media around him, but I thought he was just so good. He was very humble, he was just hard working, and from the first training you could tell his touch, his acceleration was just amazing.

“That was just what we needed at the time at Villa as well, so he did many good things in that time and hopefully he can bring them here.”

Rashford is not the only familiar figure easing Tielemans’ own transition into life at United. The Belgian midfielder has already shared a dressing room with Harry Maguire and first-team coach Jonny Evans from their days together at Leicester City.

“I played with Harry for just a bit less than six months and it was great at the time,” he said. “You could see him and Jonny had a great partnership. Harry was younger at the time and Jonny was guiding him a bit more, but you could see his qualities on the ball.

“Defensively, he is rock solid, so I think he has improved a lot over the years as well. On Jonny, Jonny has always been a main character. He has always been trying to educate young players and he welcomed me at Leicester, and now here.

“It is a bit weird to see him as staff member, to be honest, but no, it is going great. He knows me, he knows what I need and what I can bring to the team, so it helps me as well.”

For Tielemans himself, finally pulling on a United shirt feels like the end of a long pursuit. The move this summer comes after two previous rounds of talks with the club that went nowhere.

“It is a great achievement for any player to end up here,” he said. “There has been two times that I spoke with the club, but it did not achieve to anything.

“When a move comes up, then if it needs to happen, it will happen. At the times that I have been linked with the club before, it did not happen, but it is what it is.”

Now he is in the building, with old allies around him and Rashford back on the grass, the question is simple: who makes the most of this third chance at Old Trafford?