Marcus Rashford has admitted he has put in plenty of work away from the training ground in order to build a relationship with new Manchester United teammate Rasmus Hojlund.
United agreed to a £72m deal to sign Hojlund from Atalanta this summer and the Dane has already made an impact at Old Trafford. He saw a goal against Brighton & Hove Albion ruled out after VAR spotted Rashford run the ball out of play, before the duo combined to find the back of the net against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Rashford's burgeoning relationship with Hojlund is among the few bright sparks at United this season, and according to the England international, it's the result of real hard work behind the scenes.
"I'm honestly super excited about it," he told club media of his rapport with Hojlund. "At times last year when we were going on counter-attacks and stuff, when you looked up, you just saw shirts of the other bodies! And usually only the cutback was on to Bruno [Fernandes], who was usually arriving later. Whereas this year, you have to understand the dynamics have changed.
"So we've spoken to each other, we've done a lot of work off the pitch, probably that the coaching staff don't even know [about] because it's just between me and him. But I just want to understand his game and he wants to understand my game as quickly as possible.
"So far I think it's been good. We obviously had the unlucky one against Brighton that got disallowed, but then in the following game we get another one where we've combined for a goal. So I'm very happy for him. And I'm sure it's a relationship that will help both players. I'm excited for him, excited for the future. And I'm just excited that we've got so many games coming up because we've got so many opportunities to show who we are and if we hopefully we do get the next win, we've got another game a few days later and we can get another one and we can start to build momentum."
Putting in the extra effort is part of Rashford's desire to lead by example and drag United out of their current slump.
"I think the first thing is that I don't care what role you have to play in the squad or what your role is in the management, when Man Utd are losing games, it's a difficult place to be," he continued. "And from periods when we've been in this situation before, there's only one way out.
"Each individual has to look at themselves in a mirror and say that they'll give everything for the badge. You know you've got the ability otherwise you wouldn't be here. So we need to tighten up a few things in our defensive organisation, right from the front all the way to the back and just play the game.
"Each game requires slightly different things and at the minute I feel at times we're expecting the type of game to be this type of way. And when it's not, we're struggling in adjustment. And that's why I feel like teams when they score one, they end up scoring two straight after and we're still taking too long to adjust to what the game needs.
"But one good result, one good performance, can turn it around at this club. And I'm doing everything I can to try and make sure that everyone's not too down. Like I said, I know it's a difficult position and I'm not as happy as I want to be, but there's only one way to get that happiness back and it's to go out and get results."
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This article was originally published on 90min as Marcus Rashford reveals how he has built Rasmus Hojlund relationship.
