The future’s looking bright for Manchester United.
Marcus Rashford is within touching distance of a Euro 2016 squad place after scoring on his international debut, and another of the club’s young hotshots has also been in fine goalscoring form.
Had he not been loaned out to Barnsley just weeks earlier, it might have been Ashley Fletcher – rather than Rashford – getting a chance to impress against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League.
The 20-year-old Yorkshireman had featured for United’s Under-21s earlier in the season, most notably scoring a hat-trick in a Lancashire Senior Cup victory over Rochdale in September.
And he emulated his young team-mate’s England success by striking just two minutes into the League 1 Play-Off Final.
GOALLLLLLLL REDS!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Ix40sbZ7Pu
— Barnsley FC (@BarnsleyFC) May 29, 2016
Fletcher’s goal against Millwall was his ninth in just 24 appearances for Barnsley, adding to his strike in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final.
He showed great strength and composure, ignoring a well-placed team-mate to his left to fire past David Forde.
The youngster will hope to have caught the eye of Jose Mourinho as the new Manchester United manager looks to put together a title-challenging squad for the 2016/17 campaign.
Ashley Fletcher scores again for @bfc_official at Wembley. Are you watching, José? @ManUtd
— A J (@BritCricFan) May 29, 2016
Ashley Fletcher has scored for Barnsley. Doing well with his loan spell. 2-0 up. #playofffinal #mufcloanwatch #leagueone
— яєαℓιѕт נανѕтαн 💻🖱 (@RHJOfficial) May 29, 2016
Zlatan‘s going to have a wonderful bunch of young bucks to play with next season…
