Charting Rashford's rise

Louis van Gaal will be remembered at Manchester United, in part, as the man who unearthed Marcus Rashford.

It was the Dutch manager who handed the then-18-year-old a first-team debut in February 2016... almost by accident. Had Anthony Martial not been injured in the warm-up ahead of a Europa League game against FC Midtjylland at Old Trafford, Rashford would have stayed on the bench.

Indeed, he wouldn't even have been a substitute had Wayne Rooney or Will Keane been fit. Rashford was so convinced he wasn't going to play that he told his mum, Mel, not to bother going to the game. Instead, she watched his two goals on television.

For those not familiar with United's youth set-up, Rashford came out of nowhere. He started what would be his breakthrough season playing for the club's Under-18s in a 1-1 draw with West Brom and coming off the bench for the U-21s in a Lancashire Senior Cup tie against Rochdale.

He was included in Van Gaal's squad for trips to Watford and Leicester in November 2015, but never got close to coming on. And that is remarkable, looking back, given that United needed a last-minute own goal to beat Watford and drew with Leicester.