What if the problem with Marcus Rashford isn’t Marcus Rashford but Manchester United? Jadon Sancho may have made Arsenal’s mind up.
‘It won’t last.’ A message from a Manchester United-supporting pal after – as a Chelsea fan – I thanked him for Jadon Sancho. I left it there. As a dad of two, including a newborn, he’s got enough on his mind during those long sleepless nights without me labouring over what is evidently a sore subject for so many Red Devils.
What I would have demanded of a less-stressed United fan was any evidence that Sancho at Chelsea is a mere flash in the pan. What in Sancho’s past suggests this is a temporary uplift ahead of a crushing low? His answer could only have been what happened at Manchester United.
Brilliant at Borussia Dortmund, brilliant again on his return to Borussia Dortmund and now – with his stunning goal and excellent performance in the 4-3 win over Tottenham his crowning moment – very good at Chelsea.
I don’t wish to further my friend’s despair in a time of great stress, and believe it’s in his best interests to reach the inevitable epiphany himself, watching whichever Manchester United forward prompts a pile-on from the fanbase through their performance against Viktoria Plzen on Thursday night and asking: “Are we the baddies?”
Odds are that forward will be Marcus Rashford. Reports suggest Ruben Amorim is willing to see the back of the England international, who is an attractive candidate to send packing for whichever member of the rag-tag Manchester United directorship now has their hand on the transfer tiller as a ‘pure profit’ sale; which may delay Sir Jim Ratcliffe from dishonouring the Busby Babes or giving the finger to disabled supporters for the time being.
He’s been really poor for a good while now, scoring just 15 goals in 66 appearances since the start of last season, with his profligacy possibly more excusable to fans than his apparent blasé attitude to playing for Manchester United.
It really does now feel as though a transfer is Rashford and the club’s only recourse, with the perceived threat of exclusion from his coach’s ill-suited 3-4-3 now all but confirmed through Rashford’s displays under the Portuguese coach, despite flattering to deceive with three goals in the opening two Premier League games of his tenure.
Rashford being on the bench for the two games against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest between which Amorim claimed he was “close to knowing my best line-up” is telling.
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We don’t sign up to the view that it’s Paris Saint-Germain, Saudi Arabia or bust for Rashford, particularly at just £40m.
Joe Cole reckons he would be “a hell of a signing” for a Premier League side and – like Danny Murphy – believes Arsenal should be in the running for him. “There would be some people who would take Rashford over [Gabriel] Martinelli,” Murphy said.
And actually, Rashford might look at the struggles of Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, the stuttering form of Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz, and Mikel Arteta’s failure to reignite Raheem Sterling, and wonder whether the Emirates is the best place to relaunch his career. Being a set-piece block-man might not be the greatest lure.
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We can absolutely see why Arsenal would be interested though. An in-form Rashford on the opposite flank to a permanently in-form Bukayo Saka is an enticing prospect. And like the rest of us, they will be looking at Sancho’s revival at Chelsea and wondering whether they can work similar magic with Rashford.
We say magic but there’s no wand or potion required when the apparent fix is as simple as Not Being At Manchester United.
“From the very first day, [Chelsea] made me feel welcome. I know I have a lot of people to prove wrong,” Sancho said after his starring role against Tottenham. And maybe it will be as simple as that for Arsenal or whoever else takes a reasoned punt on Rashford. Give him a fresh start, make him feel loved and give him an opportunity to silence his critics away from the majority of those critics.
Because as is clearly the case with Sancho – whose poor form at Old Trafford people blamed on managers, the Premier League, his price tag and the player himself – the problem with Rashford may not be be anything other than Manchester United.