The England international had a frustrating and disappointing 2021/22 campaign, dropped by Gareth Southgate from the national team amid a form dip at the Old Trafford club.

But he has been working hard over the English summer and, injury free, is on his first full pre-season tour since breaking into the senior Red Devils squad.

“For me, it’s a fresh start and something I’m looking forward to,” he said in Melbourne ahead of their tour game against Melbourne Victory after a 4-0 win over Liverpool in Bangkok this week.

“I’m in a good place right now. I’m just looking forward to getting more games under my belt.”

The good place comes is courtesy of a rare, prolonged summer break with no international duty.

“It’s been a bit unnatural for me to have such a long break in the summer, just under four weeks and I could have a break physically and mentally,” said the 24-year-old.

It’s massive to have a full pre-season. This is the first year I’ve been with the team from the beginning and I already feel a lot better.

“I think the first two-and-a-half weeks of training have been good, we’re (United) a lot fitter than we were last season and also we’re making mistakes along the way so we have a lot of room for improvement.”

Asked about his confidence after a season in which United finished a disappointing sixth in the Premier League, Rashford said it was never easy playing on an underperforming team.

“I always say to myself it’s a lot easier to make mistakes in a team that’s winning,” he said.

“The last game against Liverpool for example we won but we made a lot of mistakes. Individually it’s the same. When you’re losing it’s difficult — we’re all sportsmen and we don’t like to lose.

“When that happens you have to refocus and try to win the next game.

“It’s a big club we play for and we’re expected to win and we have to work hard to improve.

According to reports, Twitter and Facebook have been ‘working very closely’ with investigating police officers, to look into dozens of people’s racist tweets after five people were arrested in the wake of Sunday’s final.

The tech giants will provide names, emails and IP addresses of users who are believed to have sent discriminatory messages if requested by the authorities, the Times reports.

On Thursday, the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU)  provided an update on its investigation following abusive posts targeting Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka in the wake of the Three Lions’ defeat on penalties to Italy.

Three of the suspects have already been publicly identified – plasterer Brad Pretty, 49, from Folkestone, Kent; estate agent Andrew Bone, 37, from Sale, Cheshire; and children’s football coach Nick Scott, 50, from Powick, Worcestershire.

A fourth suspect, a 37-year-old man from Ashton-upon-Mersey in Greater Manchester, was then arrested yesterday, officials said, before a fifth, a 42-year-old man from Runcorn was then detained by police in Cheshire today.

Twitter has since removed more than 1,000 posts in the 24 hours during and after the match and suspended a number of accounts for violating its rules. Facebook also confirmed that abusive comments on its platform and Instagram have been removed.

Data from analytics company Crisp, which works with top-flight football clubs, found England players faced 12,500 hate messages on social media during Euro 2020, including banana and monkey emojis.

The company said abuse from 10,000 accounts was aimed directly at players, through Twitter and Instagram, and includes comments about race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, as well as extreme personal abuse and threats of harm, including to family members.

Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s chief executive, told the Times that mistakes in the company’s detection software had allowed abusive posts to slip through, but that these had now been fixed.

He explained: ‘It is absolutely not OK to send racist emojis, or any kind of hate speech, on Instagram’.

A UKFPU statement read: ‘Following England’s defeat against Italy on Sunday a torrent of racist comments aimed at some of the team’s black players appeared on platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. A hate crime investigation is underway by the UKFPU, with a dedicated team of investigators working their way through a large number of reports from across the country. So far, dozens of data applications have been submitted to social media companies and four people have been arrested by local police forces.’

Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council football policing lead, said “The racial abuse aimed at our own players following Sunday night’s game is utterly vile and has quite rightly shocked and appalled people across the country. Our England team have been true role models during the tournament, conducting themselves with professionalism and dignity.  I’m disgusted there are individuals out there who think it’s acceptable to direct such abhorrent abuse at them, or at anybody else. The UKFPU investigation is well underway and work continues to identify those responsibly. We are working very closely with social media platforms, who are providing data we need to progress enquiries. If we identify that you are behind this crime, we will track you down and you will face the serious consequences of your shameful actions”

The three black footballers all lost their penalities and following the loss they were racially abused online. As if the racial abuse was not enough,  a mural of Rashford in his home town of Withington was also defaced in a ‘racially aggravated’ act of vandalism.

In order to support the three players, sports social media publisher SPORTbible on Tuesday, July 13, launched a giant digital billboard of the three players wearing crowns with the strapline ‘never apologise for who you are’.

The move comes after Rashford apologised for his penalty miss but said he ‘will never apologise for who I am after he was one of three players subjected to racist abuse.

The Manchester United forward, who was left visibly distraught after his penalty hit the post, also paid tribute to his supportive teammates and vowed to ‘come back stronger after the heartbreaking finale to Euro 2020.

The trio missed from the spot as the Italian team won 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out after the final game ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Speaking during a press conference on Monday morning, July 12, Southgate hit out after mindless social media trolls racially abused Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho after they missed penalties at the team’s Euro 2020 final loss.

He said “It’s just not what we stand for. We have been a beacon of light in bringing people together in people being able to relate to the national team, and the national team stands for everybody and so that togetherness has to continue. We have shown the power our country has when it does come together and has that energy and positivity together. It’s my decision who takes the penalties, it’s not a case of players not volunteering or more experienced players backing out.’

Prince William this morning said he was sickened by racist abuse of the England team, describing vile slurs at players as ‘totally unacceptable.

The Duke of Cambridge, who was at the game last night, called for those behind the messages to be punished.

He said “I am sickened by the racist abuse aimed at England players after last night’s match. It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour. ‘It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable”

All the three players missed from the spot as the Italian team won 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out after the final game ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time.

All three players suffered racist abuse on the internet over their failure to convert the penalty kick.

In a statement, England Football Association condemned the racist abuse, before stating that they ‘stand with our players”

The football body released a statement on Twitter, which reads: “We’re disgusted that some of our squad, who have given everything for the shirt this summer have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight’s game. We stand with our players”.

The 22-year-old forward was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), in the Queen’s Birthday Honors list, approved by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

Rashford made an impact during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic when he campaigned for the government to allow about 1.3 million children to claim free school meal vouchers in England’s summer holidays during the coronavirus pandemic. The move forced the British government to reverse their decision in June, and agreed to continue funding meals for poor children over the summer holidays.

In a statement, Rashford said: “I’m incredibly honoured and humbled. As a young black man from Wythenshawe, never did I think I would be accepting an MBE, never mind an MBE at the age of 22. This is a very special moment for myself and my family, but particularly my mum who is the real deserving recipient of the honour. The fight to protect our most vulnerable children is far from over. I would be doing my community, and the families I have met and spoken with, an injustice if I didn’t use this opportunity to respectfully urge the Prime Minister, who recommended me for this honour, to support our children during the October half term with an extension of the voucher scheme, as the furlough scheme comes to an end and we face increased unemployment. Another sticking plaster, but one that will give the parents of millions of children in the UK just one less thing to worry about. Let’s stand together in saying that no children in the UK should be going to bed hungry. As I have said many times before, no matter your feeling or opinion, not having access to food is NEVER the child’s fault”

Rashford, 22, raised over £20 million ($25m) to aid vulnerable people and children during the Coronavirus lockdown and in June was widely praised for writing an emotional letter to the UK government sharing how he survived starvation as a youth while urging the government to continue the policy of allowing children benefit from free school meals.

The University of Manchester has now decided to honour Rashford with an honorary doctorate for his work in the community, making him the youngest recipient of the award.

Rashford has released a statement announcing the award, which reads: “It’s a proud day for myself and my family. When you look at the great names that have been awarded this doctorate in the past, it’s humbling. We still have a long way to go in the fight to combat child poverty in this country but receiving recognition from your city means we are heading in the right direction and that means a lot. Thank you to The University of Manchester.”

Solskjaer is currently without key players Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford through injury and is hopeful of strengthening his squad before the January window shuts

Solskjaer said “I’m responsible for what is happening on the pitch, we’re looking to strengthen, we need to strengthen. We know that. We took the decision to let some players go as we needed to start afresh with a clear sight on the target in front of us which is a certain type of player. We know we need to get quality in and numbers in. We are working to improve and get players in. Hopefully, we can get something over the line. These players are stretched, and I’ve got no complaints on any of them – they give everything they’ve got. We’ve got to stick to our values, stick to our beliefs. And knowing that there is no use feeling sorry for yourself. Go out tomorrow, the next day with the same commitment and get ready for Sunday. We are stretched. Some of the players have played more than they should’ve – more mentally rather than physically, they need a mid-season break.”