Man United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka names ‘unpredictable’ teammate Marcus Rashford as toughest opponent

‘When I first joined United and came up against him in training, he was doing things that I just really didn’t expect’

Aaron Wan-Bissaka says Manchester United team-mate Marcus Rashford is his most difficult opponent, as the striker’s skillset makes him hard to predict.

Rashford had been in good form for both club and country in 2019/20, before an injury sidelined him for several months and the campaign itself was interrupted.

“I’d say Marcus [is toughest to play against],” said Wan-Bissaka on the club website. “He’s just so unpredictable. When I first joined United and came up against him in training, he was doing things that I just really didn’t expect.

“I thought he’d go a certain way and he’d go the other way, or I thought he was about to do one thing and he did another, so he’s really tricky to play against. I enjoy that though; it’s been really good for my own development to test myself against him and the other attackers we have at the club.”

Wan-Bissaka’s development has been rapid, given a £50m transfer came in summer 2019 having only made his Crystal Palace debut in early 2018—and he only became a right-back shortly before that.

“I only became a defender quite late in my own development, and it took a lot of patience,” he continued. “You have to keep working on yourself non-stop, you have to keep testing yourself, even if it doesn’t go right.

“It took time for me to get success as a defender so, if you stick with it, eventually it will go right. Push yourself, always have faith and believe in yourself.”

Wan-Bissaka has yet to be capped for England and faces competition from the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Kieran Trippier.