Going into the summer transfer window, it looked almost certain that Marcus Rashford's story at Manchester United would come to a close after enjoying a great season on loan with Barcelona.

The loan deal included a £26 million option to buy, but the Spanish giants somewhat surprisingly turned down the chance to sign the Englishman permanently, despite scoring 14 and assisting 15 in 49 appearances.

Instead, the Catalan club opted to sign Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi to reinforce the left flank, seemingly leaving Rashford's career in limbo, as a move to another club seemed more likely than staying at United.

However, Rashford has featured in United's opening two games of the season, both off the bench and starting, and with the transfer window shutting on Tuesday night, it looks overwhelmingly likely that the 28-year-old will remain at United for the 2026/27 season

Manchester United's 5-2 win over Ipswich saw Rashford start his first game for his boyhood club in 626 days, and, while he didn't get on the scoresheet, he certainly showed promising signs that he could play a major role for United this season.

After impressing the Old Trafford faithful on his return to United, Harry Maguire is confident Rashford will play a major role at the club this season.

"He's a great talent," said Maguire. "He's always a threat.

"If Marcus wants to be here, wants to work, wants to improve and help the team, of course we're willing to have him in the team.

"He could still do a lot more and I think he'll say he can do more but if we keep him fit, we keep him happy, he keeps driven and hungry, he's a great asset to have."

"You've got to remember Marcus has had a wonderful career for this club," said Maguire.

"But when you play at this club for numerous years, there's going to be bad seasons, and when the bad seasons come everyone piles on you. That's part and parcel of playing for this club.

"As a club, we haven't been perfect from top to bottom. We haven't been challenging at the top end. So, Marcus has been part of a rough ride for Manchester United.

"When that happens, players get dug out. I've been through it."

"He's come back in, really fit and sharp and we're excited to have him."

It's safe to say that going into this summer, both Manchester United and Rashford would have thought that his story at his boyhood club had come to an end, but, if he keeps up his performances across United's opening two games of the season, perhaps the club will be happy that Barcelona decided to turn down the option to buy included in the loan deal.

While Matheus Cunha prefers to drift in from the left to a more central role, Rashford provides a completely different role off the wing, always looking to dribble past defenders, something he was constantly doing against Ipswich. He almost scored an unbelievable solo goal after dribbling past three defenders in the second half, but although it didn't end up in a shot on target, his intent to run at defenders will get defenders panicking.

In his previous spell at Manchester United, Rashford was often seen as the man to lead United to success, meaning that when things weren't going their way, much of the criticism landed on the 28-year-old's shoulders.

Now, Rashford comes back into the fold playing alongside the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, established Premier League stars who are more than willing to face the music when the club are struggling, meaning Rashford doesn't have to do things single-handed anymore.

Rashford still has plenty to achieve at Manchester United, needing just 13 more goals to both reach the Premier League 100 club and also eclipse Ruud van Nistelrooy to enter the Top 10 Manchester United all-time top goalscorers.