James Ducker
Marcus Rashford has problems on and off the pitch Credit: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Marcus Rashford reacts after missing an opportunity to score during the Europa League match between Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt at Old Trafford on November 28, 2024
Marcus Rashford has problems on and off the pitch Credit: Marc Atkins/Getty Images
It was the day after Manchester United’s 4-1 trouncing in the derby at the Etihad Stadium in March 2022 when well-sourced stories emerged that Marcus Rashford was considering his future at Old Trafford and the possibility of requesting a move away from his boyhood club. Rashford was unhappy with his game-time at United under interim manager Ralf Rangnick but the concerns ran much deeper. He was tired of being shunted around in different positions and, moreover, increasingly beaten down by the United soap opera. As one source put it: “I just think sometimes you can lose confidence in everything around you.”
As Manchester City and Liverpool challenged for the big honours, the Rashford camp would occasionally wonder how things might have looked had the England striker had the benefit of playing in a settled position within a cohesive, well-oiled team with established patterns of play. They would certainly look with a degree of envy at the number of times Liverpool would help to work their totem Mohamed Salah into those dangerous positions where he was either isolated one-on-one against a left-back or through on goal. Salah weaponised that familiarity.
“I think one of the areas where other players have benefited is the quality of the chance,” one source close to Rashford told Telegraph Sport previously. “When you look at the goals Marcus scores, it’s never the same chance. Whereas if you use Mo Salah as an example, it tends to be the same type of chance because that’s something Liverpool have worked to. That’s what having a system in place and a plan gives you.”
Sir Alex Ferguson would not disagree with that. From his seat in the directors’ box at Old Trafford, the former United manager enjoyed watching this young academy graduate explode on to the scene and would tell those within his circle that he would have relished the chance to work with him. Ferguson became convinced Rashford was United’s best player and those talents needed harnessing to ensure his talent and threat were maximised but his wishes have not been realised.
The 2022-23 campaign, when Rashford emerged from what at the time was the toughest period of his career to score 30 goals for United and briefly light up England’s World Cup campaign as an impact substitute, offered hope that a superstar was emerging.
Marcus Rashford reacts during the match between Manchester United and Brentford at Old Trafford on October 19, 2024
Rashford’s salary and length of contract makes him a difficult prospective purchase for rival clubs Credit: Molly Darlington/Reuters
But it would prove a false dawn and now Rashford finds himself in an even bigger trough than the one that preceded that one glittering season, with United’s new head coach Ruben Amorim left to pick up the pieces. Now 27, Rashford should be the figurehead of this United side and a forward around whom Amorim can confidently build as he seeks to bring some order to the chaos that has reigned for so long.
Instead, he has inherited a player who is beset with problems on and off the pitch and one United have been very much open to selling this year amid deepening concerns about his lifestyle and the financial pressures that are forcing the club to explore all options available to them.
United have placed considerable stock in Amorim to make the best of what he has got since there is unlikely to be a lot of money to spend in the next two windows, given how losses of £312.9 million over the past three seasons have left the club scrambling to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
It means United will have to sell to raise funds to reinvest in the squad but, as they discovered in the summer, there are not many takers in a depressed market for a troubled striker earning £325,000 a week and still with three-and-a-half years to run on that whopping contract he was handed in July 2023.
United paid £9 million to get the misfit Alexis Sánchez off their books in 2020 when the Chile forward still had two years left on his deal. Arsenal did something similar with big earners Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Mesut Özil to accelerate the rebuilding process under Mikel Arteta, but United are not in that boat with Rashford.
The choice is as simple as it is stark: start getting a tune out of him or sell. The latter scenario is much easier said than done and the former would be no mean feat for Amorim. One need only look at Rashford’s contribution in Thursday’s narrow 2-1 victory away to Viktoria Plzen to appreciate what the Portuguese is up against.
Rashford was largely unrecognisable from the player who, at his explosive best, could terrorise defenders. The shoulders were sunken, his face puffy, the body language poor. There was a reluctance to run in behind and he was eventually substituted for his own good in the 56th minute after an ill-advised challenge when he was already on a booking.
Amorim will have had to think long and hard about whether to start the player in Sunday’s derby against City at the Etihad. For all his desire for greater patterns of play, Rashford does not appear a natural fit for Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system. He is not an out-and-out No 9 and his skill set seems less suited to playing in the half spaces as a No 10. He has scored three goals in Amorim’s six games but there have been more questions than answers.
Whether Amorim can “reach” Rashford remains to be seen. The word “impenetrable” has been used by others to describe Rashford, with some of Amorim’s predecessors finding it difficult to cut through with the player. “You’d have what you felt was a really good conversation with him, but then the next day it was like it had gone in one ear and out the other,” one source commented. Another insider said: “I know his birth certificate says he’s 27, but he is closer to an 18-year-old in other ways, so the support has to be right.”
It does not help that Rashford’s relationship with the United supporters has become increasingly strained. He has been booed off in some games, notably the FA Cup semi-final against Coventry at Wembley, and there have been isolated flashpoints after games, all of which is a far cry from the outpouring of love in his direction for his work tackling child food poverty. Even Liverpool fans were applauding him for that. Unfortunately, the attention his off-field activity has attracted more recently has been of a very different kind to that tremendous campaigning.
The concerns about Rashford’s lifestyle were there before his boozy escapades in Belfast in January brought the issues to a wider audience and the reality is that if he is to start delivering consistently on the pitch then he — and United — must get a better handle on his personal life. One source summed it up nicely: “There is a great kid and player in there, truly, but he’s lost at the moment”.
Join the conversation
The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our commenting policy. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our commenting policy.