Former Manchester United right-back Matteo Darmian believes Marcus Rashford can go on to be a future Ballon d'Or winner and claims criticism of Paul Pogba at the club has been unjustified.
Darmian spent four years at United having joined in July 2015 from Italian outfit Torino, and saw Rashford make his first-team debut in his first year at the club before France midfielder Pogba joined a year later.
And the 30-year-old defender - who now plays for Serie A side Parma after joining them in August 2019 from United - maintains he was convinced of Rashford's ability from his first training session with the senior squad and has backed him to reach the level of Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe.
'I immediately thought: 'wow, this is an incredible player'. He did so many impressive things for a player of his age and the way he improved in every detail really impressed me,' Darmian told The Guardian.
'If he continues to work the way he has done so far he can be a Ballon d'Or winner. I'm convinced of this.
'He impressed me the most of all the players at United and he's very young and can still improve. For me he can reach the level of Kylian Mbappé and compete for the Ballon d'Or for years to come.'
The Italy international also leapt to the defence of United midfielder Pogba, whose future at Old Trafford is mired in doubt as links with a move to Real Madrid continue.
Darmian however believes the 27-year-old World Cup winner is the victim of the £89.3million fee the club paid Juventus in 2016 for his signature, and has maintained that criticism regarding his work rate and general performance levels are wide of the mark.
'The real 'problem' with Pogba at United, I think, was the price the club paid for him and that conditioned the way people perceived him,' Darmian continued.
'There has been a lot of unjustified criticism towards Pogba, for example that he doesn't work hard enough, but he always gave his best, I can assure you, in every training session.
'In my opinion his performances were good in recent years, they talk about him too negatively [in the UK].
'Did I see Pogba unhappy or willing to leave? No, I honestly didn't see him sad or unhappy, quite the opposite, for all the time I was in Manchester, Paul was absolutely happy with his decision to go back there. He really cares about doing well at Manchester United.'
Morry256
375
Well its about time the best player in the world played in the best league...I wouldn't mind if it were rashford
Tazbcmpy
315
Actually it's not really about age, it's about holding it down for your team. Comparing Rashford with Mbappe may not really be bad afterall considering the fact that he's rated higher than Rashy, this however can be narrowed down to certain factor which is worth noting before saying Kylian is better than Marcus. First. The league you're playing in. Second, the team they're playing in. Third, the current level of the team they're playing in. Lastly, the ability of the player himself. Based on the above consideration I think Mbappe had it all working in his favor, its only in ability that Rashford can match him. The league is different, playing in league one cannot be compared to doing it in the premier league, though they may be rated the same (5 top leagues in Europe) but the intensity, speed, and level of strength required is higher in premier league than elsewhere. Secondly, PSG is a dominant force in French League One, of which they've been champion for the last four to five seasons, they we're the strongest financially and on the pitch and playing in such a team flooded with world class player can not be a lesser advantage compared to a struggling United. Moreover, Rashford had his opportunity at such a time the team is in crisis, he made his debut because of injury to Martial in the warm up to Midtijylland encounter at OT, he is a last minute emergency inclusion in the starting line up. If Rashy can be the silver lining and do what he has done in a team on a decline like United he truly deserve a ballon'dor gong sometimes in the future. Therefore rating them based on the above would've been a better ground for justification rather than sentiment. This does not on anyway means Mbappe is not good either, in fact he's world class, but Rashy deserves more than he's presently getting. Rashford playing in a team like Barca, Bayern, PSG, or even Jive can be a good as Mbappe or even better because he had a lot more in ability than Mbappe. My humble opinion folks!
lukzlat910
202
I really admire Darmian....he was always left on the bench, clearly unwanted, but yet he never complained and even now, he's still praising his former teammates....once a Red, always a Red 🇾🇪🇾🇪❤️❤️