Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford (Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
Aston Villa's on-loan sensation Marcus Rashford would have faced a media backlash had he been snapped leaving a boozer on his day off, much like ex-skipper Jack Grealish was last week, it has been claimed. Manchester City magician Grealish was caught on camera enjoying himself at North Biddick Social Club near Sunderland during a visit to Jordan Pickford's brother, Richard Logan, the previous weekend.
A regular at the club told The Daily Mail: "Jack was a total gentleman. £500 is enough to keep the whole bar in pints for a good few hours. What a star he was, he can come back any time."
Even though Grealish was off-duty and shelled out for 200 rounds, some press circles didn't shy away from questioning his pub escapade, considering his challenge to secure a regular spot with City. The player has been linked with a move to Newcastle United in the summer with ChronicleLive exclusively revealing that he is to be offered to St James' Park chiefs for a cut-price fee.
City boss Pep Guardiola offered his take on Friday about Grealish's leisure activity: "They know what they have to do," and "A day off is a day off, there is no training."
Guardiola further stated, "They have private lives to do whatever they want. I'm not going to control what they do in their private life. I judge what I see on the pitch, the training sessions and the performances in the game. That's where I judge the players," reports Birmingham Live.
However, this matter sparked debate among Sky Sports pundits, with Mirror assistant editor Darren Lewis suggesting that Rashford would've been judged more harshly if he were photographed at the pub in place of £100m recruit Grealish.
He said: "Sometimes we have to be real. If it was Rashford doing the kind of thing which we are seeing Grealish doing ... if we see Rashford we see Rashford in those images stumbling down the road outside the pub, he would be destroyed.
"I think there is a double-standard here, in the way that we treat images like that. I'm sure Rashford will look at that and I am sure Grealish will look at that and feel relieved that he is not Rashford in this situation. We are not being fair and even handed if we don't articulate the state of play."
Back in January, after Rashford was seen out on a night in Belfast and missed training the following day, Manchester United felt compelled to release a statement regarding the incident.
Lewis added: "Jack at his best is an absolutely fantastic talent. He will want to get back into the thinking of Thomas Tuchel with England as the squad is about to be picked, but at the moment you'd suggest there are more potent, consistent, much more creative options for the manager to look at.
"It's about where does Jack go from here. Does he want to get back into the City side? Does he want to get back into the England side? It's his responsibility. He has a universal popularity and respect that he has earned because he is so down to earth.
"I don't think there is a will to really take him down or anything like that. He is a super player and we want to see him back where he was. You just hope that he gets back to where he was."