Normally, I don’t often respond to gossip about me. That’s not who I am. I am an introvert. I don’t even like talking about myself unless I really know you. Therefore, I will ignore 99% of the noise. But sometimes lines are crossed, and I have to make people understand me as a person.

I’m not trying to bash the media. I understand the rules of the game, you know what I mean? They weren’t really about me, but about “the Marcus Rashford character”. It can’t be a 26-year-old guy going out at night or getting a parking ticket. It has to revolve around how expensive the car is, how much my weekly salary is, or my jewelry, tattoos… It had to be about my body language, questioning my principles, my family and my football future. That’s something not every player has. Just know that already.

I think part of the noise started with the pandemic. I’m just trying to use my influence to make sure children don’t go hungry, because I know exactly how bad that feels. But for some reason, this seems to anger some people. It was as if they were just waiting for me to have a human moment so they could point a finger and say, “There, see what he really is?”

Listen, I’m not a perfect person. When I make a mistake, I will be the first to raise my hand and admit I need to play better. But if you question my commitment to Man Utd, I will be forced to respond. It was like someone questioning my entire being and what I stood for as a man. I grew up in Manchester, playing for Man Utd since I was a kid. My family turned down life-changing money when I was a kid, so I could wear this shirt.

They want to talk about cars? Imagine being 5, 6 or 7 years old and taking four different buses to get to The Cliff training ground. I’m not exaggerating, just ask my mother. I need someone to take time off work to go with me, because no one in my family has a car, and I don’t even have a driver’s license. In those days, there were only two buses going into town, so we had to walk around town to catch the bus to Salford, even though it was pouring rain and there wasn’t anything decent to eat. I practiced for hours with my mother waiting even though I didn’t know anything about football, purely for love. And a similarly long journey back home. All just to pursue the dream of playing for Man Utd. And this is not me complaining. I loved every moment of it.

You know what the first thing the teachers told us at The Cliff was? “Express yourself,” said teachers Tony Whelan, Eamon Mulvey and Mike Glennie. To this day, it’s still one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever had in football.

People will probably think I’m strange when I start talking about what Man Utd means to me. Because if you weren’t me, it would probably sound very fake. But you have to understand that, when I was a kid, playing football for Man Utd was everything. It was like something out of reach. Being present is difficult, staying there is even harder. I remember they used to organize tournaments of 5 players per team around Manchester with an entry fee of £1, for all ages. There are children who have to confront nearly adults. I always asked my mother for money to participate, because if your team wins, you will receive winnings, just enough to buy a ticket to Old Trafford. We were very young, but we won a few times.

For me, being on the field means more than anything. We usually stay until everyone has left, and the stadium seems empty. Just sit there looking around and listening. Old Trafford has a special sound, and it brings me peace. As a child who was constantly on the go, this stadium always felt like home to me.

When there is such an emotion, no one can create it. It’s just naturally within you.

When I was 10 or 11 years old, I started to receive a lot of attention and we met all kinds of agents and football teams trying to attract attention. Man Utd still hasn’t signed a contract to give me a scholarship, and people are offering me all kinds of things. Some other clubs offered my family life-changing amounts of money like “We will buy your family a house, buy a car, change your family’s life…”.

At that time, my mother still worked as a cashier at Ladbrokes and my brother worked at AA. They have every right to tell me “Accept the offer”. But they knew my dream was to play for Man Utd, so they never pressured me. I don’t know how many people know this, but I played two games for another club’s youth team to see if I liked it. When I walked out of the dressing room, my mother and brothers asked me: “What do you want now? Stay or go?”

I replied: “I want to return to Man Utd”.

That’s how things are. We got back on the bus, betting it all on ourselves. When you look back and see how many great young players never made it to the first team, it was a risk. But for me, it’s the only option. I still remember at that time, at a family meeting, I said: “If one day I play for Man Utd, I want to be able to look at everyone’s faces and say that no one has changed. And I hope everyone I can do the same thing with my children.”

People think they know my family story, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are many things that people don’t know, because I didn’t feel comfortable sharing everything when I was playing football. But the hardship is real. It’s not an advertisement or a movie. People say I’m from Wythenshawe, but I was constantly on the move as a child. I’ve been everywhere: Hulme with my aunt, Moss Side with my grandmother, Chorlton with my brother… But I wouldn’t change anything, because no matter how difficult it was, it shaped me into who I am today.

I still meet friends where I used to live and laugh with each other: “Do you still remember those days…”. If you know, then you know what I’m saying.

You know what’s crazy? I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I often went home during my first season with Man Utd and played street football with my friends on my days off. That’s my culture. It’s still a part of who I am and one of the reasons I’m successful. If you don’t live with us, it’s hard to understand.

There’s something my mother used to say when I was very young: “Marcus, nothing in life is free.” It’s not just football advice. She told me this not just to keep me away from the agents. It’s about life. Every year that passes, I understand that more and more.

“Nothing is free.” Money is so important, it is a blessing. But dreams are priceless. For me, even when I was 11 years old, playing football for Man Utd was my only dream. I remember when I was still trying to get signed, Rooney and Ronaldo came to the academy for an event, and I looked at them in shock. There was a photographer and eventually all of us kids got a chance to take pictures with them, and I stood back from everyone. I still remember my brother saying: “Hurry up and take a photo with Rooney! What are you doing???”

I replied, “I don’t need a photo.”

He was surprised: “No need?”

I affirmed: “One day, I will play on the field with them.”

I think I was the only kid who didn’t take pictures that day. After refusing the money, I only had a burning desire left. I no longer consider myself a child. I had to take each opportunity and change our lives forever. To be able to continue moving forward and live the dream of a Manchester child. Like a kid from Hulme, Moss Side, Chorlton, Withington, Wythenshawe… If you think I can take that lightly, then you simply don’t understand me.

The problem is, football can be a bubble. I always try to be a normal person and keep old friends. I always try my best not to change, even when going out at night or on vacation. But there’s another angle: I’m just human, I still make mistakes that many guys in their 20s make, and I always try to learn from those mistakes. But I made sacrifices that no one saw. What I want you to understand is that money is not what makes you play football in difficult times. The main motivation is the love of football, simple as that.

We all know this team has gone through a transition in recent seasons. When we win, you guys are the best fans in the world, and that’s the truth. We need more positive energy like that around the team. I know what that air can do, because it has helped me get through my darkest moments. Every time I step onto the field and hear the fans singing my name, or look around Old Trafford before kick-off, I always feel that positive energy.

Deep down, I’m still a fan and can’t get it out of my veins. I will never forget the first time I played football at Anfield, and when I felt the atmosphere on the pitch, heard the whistle and the roar from the stands. I felt so angry that I almost got kicked out of the field. I love James Milner, but I ran up to him and tackled the ball fiercely, because there were so many emotions inside me – not as a player, but as a Man Utd fan who happened to be playing. with Liverpool. I still remember coming home and telling my family: “We need to find a solution. You need to find a way to remove the fans from yourself, otherwise you’ll probably get a red card in every match!”.

I can hear every criticism, read every headline, from podcasts to social media to newspapers. But if you question my commitment to the club, my love of football and bringing my family into it, I will be forced to ask you for a little more humanity.

Do you know? If I’m being honest, part of me has no problem with people doubting me. When everyone says they love me, I get skeptical. I know how this world works. I had to grow up from a very early age and become self-reliant. Whenever I fall into a deep hole of frustration and feel like half the world is against me, I usually spend a few days alone to refresh myself and then everything is fine again. I think this habit started when I was a little boy dribbling the ball alone on the street until it was dark, I couldn’t see the ball anymore and heard my mother calling me home.

That’s the introverted version of me, needing my own space to recover. There are times when this doesn’t work, and I find someone to talk to. Sometimes that’s the way to get by. But every time I’m at a low point emotionally and physically, I always feel like that’s when I turn things around and play my best football for Man Utd and England.

I promise you that the world has not yet seen the best version of Man Utd with the current generation of players. We want to return to the Champions League, and have an important international tournament at the end of the season. We will return to where we belong. We have to keep working hard, and it starts with me.

If you support me, great.

If you doubt me, even better.