Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford has admitted that he gave "a little" consideration to leaving the Red Devils last summer before Erik ten Hag's arrival.
The England international lost his golden touch in the 2021-22 season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, managing a paltry four Premier League goals.
Both Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain were allegedly ready to offer Rashford an escape route, but Ten Hag convinced the 25-year-old to stay on, and the attacker quickly rediscovered his best form.
A terrific 2022-23 campaign saw Rashford amass 30 goals and 11 assists in 56 matches across all tournaments, as the Red Devils qualified for the Champions League and won the EFL Cup.
Thanks to his stellar year, Rashford was recently rewarded with a new-and-improved contract until the summer of 2028, although he has admitted that the thought of moving on did cross his mind last year.
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When asked on the Red Devils' USA tour if he ever considered leaving the club, Rashford replied: "Before the manager came maybe a little bit. But it's football, it happens," as quoted by the Daily Mail.
"Everything is going to happen for a reason and he (Ten Hag) came to the club at the right time for me. The timing worked out. Now the conversation is a little bit different because I think it's clear, the manager is very ambitious and he has been since the minute he stepped in. I didn't really have doubt in my mind about that.
'I'm hungry to keep improving and the squad and the players and the staff keep improving and getting used to each other, pushing ourselves to be better than we were the year before. That's the only way we're going to get back to winning trophies consistently."
Rashford's 17-goal haul in the Premier League marked his joint-best return in the English top flight, having also made the net ripple on the same number of occasions in the 2019-20 campaign.
The 25-year-old has also regained the trust of England head coach Gareth Southgate and now sits on 123 goals and 68 assists from 359 matches for Man United since making his debut as an 18-year-old.
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Rashford was voted Manchester United's Players' Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season, during which he also scooped three Premier League Player of the Month awards.
While the Red Devils academy product came good on the left flank, Anthony Martial and Wout Weghorst failed to cut the mustard up front, leading Ten Hag to spearhead a search for a new central striker this summer.
Having conceded defeat in their efforts to sign Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane, Man United are now understood to have reached an agreement for Atalanta BC's Rasmus Hojlund and will pay an initial €75m (£64.4m) for the Danish youngster.
Atalanta's payment could reach €85m (£73m) with performance-related add-ons, and Hojlund is set to sign a five-year contract with a 12-month option until the end of the 2028-29 campaign.
Hojlund will become the third new arrival at the Theatre of Dreams this summer, following Cameroonian goalkeeper Andre Onana and Rashford's compatriot Mason Mount to Man United, who conclude their USA Tour against Borussia Dortmund in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
Ben Knapton
