Unimpressed: Teddy Sheringham has hit out at Marcus Rashford
The Catalan club is Rashford’s preferred destination this summer and are currently in pole position to facilitate his exit from Manchester, having held talks with the England international’s camp.
Having spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa after saying in December that he was “ready for a new challenge”, Rashford also lost his No10 shirt to new United signing Matheus Cunha in recent weeks and has been training away from the first-team squad alongside a group of fellow exit-bound stars.
Despite the 27-year-old appearing to have no future at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim, former United treble-winner Sheringham has claimed that Rashford has not earned the “step up”.
“If you assess where Marcus Rashford is at as a professional footballer, you strive as a youngster to get to the very top and play for clubs like Manchester United, and when you’re there, you appreciate it - you don’t throw it away and say you want to leave,” Sheringham said.
“From my perspective, if you go from Manchester United to Barcelona, that’s a step up he hasn’t deserved.”
Sheringham, pictured playing for United in 2000, is one of the Premier League’s greatest-ever goal-scorers
Speaking to Sky Bet, Sheringham continued: “I find the whole episode very soul-destroying, compared to the way I was back in the day and how I strove to get the privilege to play for such a huge football club.
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“To hear someone talking the way he is talking, saying he wants out – I didn’t like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doing that at Arsenal, I thought it was soul-destroying, and I hope Rashford doesn’t get the move that he’s hankering for.”
Rashford is one of five United players to have been left out of United manager Amorim’s pre-season so far, alongside fellow attackers Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Jadon Sancho, and defender Tyrell Malacia.