Wrexham midfielder Ollie Rathbone said facing his former club Manchester United would be a "humbling experience" for him. Rathbone, 29, came from United's infrastructure and trained with World Cup players such as Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay during this period. Rathbone, who left United after an eight-year period in 2016, stated that he always felt his gratitude to the Old Trafford club.

"They provided really good support in the important years for me and I can't say anything bad about that," said Rathbone. "Going through that academy was something I was proud of. It really made me understand how difficult it is to be a professional footballer. Even though it was such a glamorous club, they taught me the basics of being a professional footballer. That gave me the determination to have a career because I knew how challenging it would be and how much work I had to do," he said.

Blackburn-born Rathbone did not get the chance to play in the first team as much as Rashford and McTominay. After being released in the summer of 2016, he joined Rochdale and spent five seasons there. Rathbone stated that United's youth infrastructure "has a good record of producing players to play professional football". "Many have progressed to the top levels of European football, such as Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay, but there are also hundreds of players who have gone on to have great careers in the league. And I know the people at Manchester United are as proud of those as they are of their title names," he said.

Rathbone transferred to Rotherham in 2021 and helped the club gain promotion to the Championship in his first season there. The player joined Wrexham in the summer of 2024 and has become an important player in Phil Parkinson's team. However, Rathbone suffered a serious ankle injury in a friendly match against Sydney FC in July 2025 and was forced to miss the first 20 league matches of the season. Describing the injury as a "nightmare", Rathbone returned with a last-minute goal against Watford last December and became a regular for Wrexham in the second half of the season.“Last season, our form by the Christmas period was definitely play-off form,” said Rathbone. “The first quarter of the season was challenging for the team to come together and understand where we were as a group,” added Rathbone. Wrexham will continue their preparations for their second season in the Championship by traveling to the USA next week to face Leeds United, Liverpool and Sunderland. But first there is a friendly against Manchester United, the club Rathbone left a decade ago, at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on Saturday.