Marcus Rashford's rather unexpected return to Manchester United has introduced an element of surprise and excitement surrounding the upcoming 2026/27 campaign under Michael Carrick.

In December 2024, Rashford was banished from then-manager Rúben Amorim's squad after breaking training protocol and being spotted on a night out in Belfast, and was quickly sent on loan to Aston Villa for the remainder of the campaign.

Upon his return, Amorim still refused to let the player back into his first-team, and Rashford headed on loan to Barcelona for the season. Despite recording 14 goals and 14 assists last campaign, the La Liga winners did not sanction the £26 million option to buy.

Now, with no other club yet to meet United's transfer demands for the forward, he has returned to the squad under Carrick, with the expectation now that he will play out the season as a forward option.

While there are plenty in the squad who have not played with Rashford before, such as Matheus Cunha, Andrey Santos, and Senne Lammens, new signing Youri Tielemans is very familar with the winger's talents from their time together at Villa Park.

Since the 28-year-old's return to the Reds, there has not been anything said from the squad about his return, although the Belgian international has now spoken about what he feels Rashford could bring to United.

“He was great [at Aston Villa],” Tielemans told reporters during the club's training camp in Ireland. “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.”

Last season, during the 17 games under Carrick following his appointment as interim boss in January, it became clear that he wanted to play the rest of the season with hammer-swinging counter-attacks, as it suited his personnel the best.

But with the signings of Santos and Tielemans, there is a clear desire to move towards a more controlled, dominant style of football, which suits players like Amad, Benjamin Šeško, and Cunha very well.

With Rashford now part of the attacking department once again, he offers the type of lightning-fast speed and thinking that no other player in the squad possesses.

While a dominant style of play suits some of the forward line, quick and dangerous attacks suit Rashford, which gives Carrick the ability to switch the style of play seamlessly and become an incredibly unpredictable side to face next campaign.