Aston Villa loanee Marcus Rashford has broken his silence on his surprise inclusion in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad for the upcoming internationals.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager announced his first squad for their World Cup qualifying games against Latvia and Albania this month, including the rejuvenated Manchester United star.
His last appearance for England was in March 2024 in the home defeat to Brazil and he was not included in the Euro 2024 squad by Gareth Southgate having fallen out of form at United at the end of last season.
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Under Ruben Amorim, he struggled to rediscover that spark despite netting the first goal of his tenure in their away draw with Ipswich Town and he later departed for Villa on loan until the end of the season.
That decision has been completely justified as he has notched four assists in nine games and helped them progress in the Champions League and FA Cup since arriving.
With the likes of Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Adam Wharton and Morgan Gibbs-White all missing out, Rashford’s inclusion is certainly interesting and it gives us an insight into the type of team Tuchel is looking to build.
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Rashford’s message to the fans
Upon his selection, Rashford expressed his gratitude and relayed an eight-word message through social media to the fans. He wrote: “Never stop believing *England flag emoji* Can’t wait to get started *praying emoji*.”
It is certainly a swift turnaround from his final month at United where he was excluded from the first-team squad for weeks. The likely answer is that he is benefitting from being unburdened by the collective dispair that currently looms over Old Trafford and his new environment is one of excitement, freedom and a clear direction.
Tuchel was quizzed over Rashford’s inclusion given it was one of the big stories of the announcement, to which he claimed his recent impact has been impressive.
“With Marcus, he is a familiar face but a different situation,” the England boss said. “I felt that he had a huge impact at Aston Villa, he made a huge impact from the bench mostly. The impact was impressive.
“The physical impact was impressive and most importantly, his workrate, his defensive ability and tracking back was impressive. I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, bring him in and to push him to stay on that level to not fall back on old routines. This camp is to push him to stay on this level.”
Given that Villa have an option to buy the United graduate for £40million at the end of the season, it will likely depend on their financial situation and how the rest of the campaign pans out in regards to their European and domestic cup runs, as well as their final league position.
Whilst another loanee in Marco Asensio has been in better form, there is no obligation or option to buy the Paris Saint-Germain attacker and Rashford’s deal could be a far easier negotiation which could suggest he might be moving there permanently in the summer. Until then, we’ll have to wait and see how the season unfolds.