Premier League footballers get flogged time and again for lacking a human touch but a story has been circulated online about one Manchester United player supposedly making some trick-or-treaters night this Halloween.
According to blue-ticked Twitter user Simon Austin, the England international Marcus Rashford pulled up on a street in Sale, south of Manchester, where a group of five children were out trick-or-treating. After being egged on to sing happy birthday to the Rashford by a female passenger, the youngsters oblighed. He then, it's said, pulled out a few crisp £20 notes and handed one to each of the kids who were, presumably, awestruck.
A lovely story to hear indeed and one that was immediately cut to ribbons by that platforms legions of irritable users, it’s uplifting all the same and we buy it.
Now, we’ve no way to check the veracity of these claims ourselves but, unless somebody in the Manchester area is spinning around in Marcus Rashford masks then we’re willing to give Mr Austin the benefit of the doubt.
It’s not hard to believe such a story about the United academy product, whose been cited countless times as a humble individual and an ideal role model for youngsters hoping to follow in his footsteps.
Rashford has been on the end of praise from his international manager Gareth Southgate, who has described him as a young man with strong family values: “When he first came he didn’t know the group, but he was happy to speak in meetings. He has a lot of humility. I’ve met his mum, his brothers, and they are a good influence.”
That certainly squares up with the story retold below.