التأثير الإيجابي لراشفورد يبشر بالخير

Scoring a goal and making a pretty positive impact when he came on as substitute for England last night won't have done Marcus Rashford any harm.

On 1 July, Rashford will revert to being a Manchester United player after Barcelona opted against triggering a £26m clause to buy the 28-year-old.

United say they want £40m for Rashford, who has two years left on his £325,000-a-week contract.

They also say they will not entertain another loan deal with Barcelona, which is what the La Liga giants want.

Clearly, United can't force Rashford to go anywhere he doesn't want to - and his salary rules out all but a few clubs anyway.

As it stands, United are expecting the player to return to them after the mandatory three-week post-World Cup break, which would be just in time for a training camp in the Republic of Ireland.

There is a lot of time yet for Rashford's club future to be resolved, but impacts like last night have to be viewed as a positive.