Marcus Rashford bags rising star award after stunning breakthrough year with Manchester United

MARCUS RASHFORD capped an incredible 2016 by being crowned as the Rising Star of the Year at the North West Football Awards.

The Manchester United youngster beat six others to the fan-voted award and an official from United received the gong on his behalf at an awards ceremony on Monday night.

Rashford was unable to attend himself as he is away on international duty with England and could be in line to face Spain on Tuesday night.

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That is a sign of just how far the young striker has come in such a short space of time, having only made his United debut in February this year.

United were quick to pay tribute. A message on their official website read: “Congratulations Marcus, from everyone at Manchester United.”

The 19-year-old burst onto the scene with a brace on his debut against Midtjylland in the Europa League.

And that was swiftly followed by another double against Arsenal on his first appearance in the Premier League just three days later.

Rashford has now played 32 games for the club in all competitions and bagged 12 goals.

He was a mainstay under Louis van Gaal after breaking through last season but initially struggled to nail down a place after Jose Mourinho took charge in the summer.

However, a series of impressive cameos from the bench means he has forced his way back into Mourinho’s first team. He has also won five England caps, scoring one international goal.

Also shortlisted for the Rising Star award were: Alan Browne (Preston), Mark Gillespie (Carlisle), Sam Heathcote (Altrincham), Max Power (Wigan), Joe Williams (Everton) and Jordan Williams (Barrow).