Marcus Rashford could be set for a summer of transfer limbo despite Michael Carrick admitting the door is not completely closed on the forward playing for Manchester United again.
The striker is currently on loan at Barcelona but it is becoming increasingly unlikely the move will be made permanent, which will obligate a return to Old Trafford where he would receive a wage rise if the club qualify for the Champions League.
The 28-year-old has not played for United since December 2024, spending the past 16 months out on loan at Aston Villa and Barcelona, who have the option to purchase Rashford for €30m. United sit comfortably in third, seven points above Saturday’s opponent Chelsea but will not want to see the gap close come full-time at Stamford Bridge.
After two seasons without Champions League football, returning to Europe’s top table is vital but will result in players’ wages increasing, with Rashford’s salary reaching £325,000 (€373,000) per week on his deal, which runs until 2028, and United would be keen to sell him but few could match his earnings.
“There’s decisions to be made in time on certain things, and obviously Marcus is in that situation. But at this point in time, nothing’s been decided,” Carrick said. “Certainly from my perspective, whoever’s here, I want to work with, make the best out of, and help them improve. At the moment, it’s this squad of players, and there’s obviously players on loan, and whatever happens with that later on will happen with that later on. But certainly, as a coach, and as a leader of a squad, we want to get the best out of everyone as much as we possibly can.”
Carrick will want to see his team bounce back from Monday night’s defeat at home to Leeds but faces a defensive crisis. He will once again be without Harry Maguire who received a further one-match suspension in response to his behaviour to the fourth official after being sent off at Bournemouth.
He will be joined by Lisandro Martinez on the sidelines after his dismissal for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair in the defeat to Leeds, to leave Carrick short of centre-backs, with Matthijs De Ligt a long-term absentee and Leny Yoro an injury doubt, which could leave Ayden Heaven the only one available.
“There’s not much we can react to,” Carrick said of Maguire’s suspension. “Massively disappointed, of course. I think I had a few reasons to be disappointed in a big way over these type of situations over the last couple of weeks, or three weeks, but obviously now we’ve got to move on.”
Martinez begins a three-game ban for violent conduct after the VAR sent referee Paul Tierney to the monitor to review the incident.
Carrick called the decision “one of the worst I’ve seen” and it is understood United intended to appeal the sending off.
The former midfielder sidestepped a question as to whether they lodged the appeal but confirmed the Argentina international will be unavailable on Saturday.
“We’re obviously disappointed,” Carrick said. “We didn’t agree with it. I think it was pretty obvious how I felt after the game, and I still feel that way.
“Yeah, listen, I don’t want to go into it now. I think it is what it is. We’ve been hit with some decisions and, at the end of the day, now we’ve got to accept it and move on, whether we like them or not.”
Asked to confirm whether Martinez will be available at Chelsea, Carrick said: “No.”
Patrick Dorgu remains absent as he works his way back from a hamstring injury sustained in January, but Kobbie Mainoo was spotted with the travelling group having missed the defeat to Leeds with an issue sustained in training. - Guardian