A year ago Marcus Rashford had long since scored the fifth and final goal of his most forgettable Manchester United season. The March international break passed by without little debate over his England exile.
Rashford's last goal of last season came on January 22. He would play 15 more games without scoring and had the World Cup taken place in the summer he would have missed out on Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad.
This March, Rashford would have been one of the first names on the team sheet for England, but for the minor knock which has kept him out of European Championship qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine. The chance for the 25-year-old to get some rest is a major boost for United, but it is a blow for Southgate. Not even Harry Kane has scored as many as Rashford's 27 club goals this season.
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19 of Rashford's goals have come in 25 games since the World Cup and his form marks him out as one of the best forwards in Europe at the moment. He has impressed as a striker and as a left-sided attacker and is clearly absolutely essential to Erik ten Hag's team.
It is a remarkable transformation from a year ago, but it has also changed the debate around the player. Back then, there was genuine discussion about his future. His brother met with officials from Paris Saint-Germain last August and having started just five of the final 16 games of last season, his spot in the team hardly looked secure.
There was always an expectation that Rashford would improve for the appointment of Ten Hag, for the tactical details and high-level coaching he brings. But it was Jadon Sancho who shone brightest in pre-season and when Antony joined, Rashford's role looked far from guaranteed.
Now he is United's best left-winger and best striker. Maybe even their best right-winger as well. His performances have been outstanding and his finishing is much more consistent. It looks a certainty that he will become the first United player in a decade to hit the 30-goal mark.
But if a secret rendezvous with PSG looked like posturing a year ago, now there is a little more concern. This season Rashford has looked worthy of playing for any of Europe's elite and there is long-standing interest from the Parisians. A contract extension that had seemed a formality has still not been signed.
Ten Hag was asked about the progress last week, but said only that "when we have news we will bring it immediately". There has still been no news.
United did take the option in Rashford's contract, extending it until June 2024, but a long-term extension has not yet been agreed upon and signed. The longer that wait goes on, the closer we get to crunch time.
This season's schedule hasn't offered much room for contract talks and extensions. Rashford isn't the only player waiting. David de Gea's deal expires in three months and the options have all been taken to keep Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot and Fred until the end of next season. None of them have signed longer deals.
In a way that is a refreshing change for a club that has been too keen to hand out early - and often unearned - extensions. It's a policy that saddled United with unsellable assets earning wages that they weren't justifying. Ten Hag and football director John Murtough are pursuing a more sensible approach. The ball is in the players' court, to a degree.
But of those players mentioned above it is clearly Rashford's case that is most pressing. Maybe the end of the season is the time when we will see progress, but this campaign doesn't finish until the end of May and the clock is ticking.
Given the form he has shown this year, it is doubtful that United can afford to enter into next season with Rashford in the final year of his contract. It almost certainly is going to be a case of an extension or a sale this summer.
The most likely scenario remains a new deal being agreed. Rashford is performing for his boyhood club and firing their rise back towards trophies. United have a homegrown star who is one of their best and most marketable players. It's hard to envisage a scenario where they don't come to an agreement, but then the longer this goes on, the more those concerns might begin to grow.
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