Former Premier League striker Alan Shearer would be “amazed” if a team in the Premier League signed Man Utd forward Marcus Rashford in January.
After making over 400 appearances for the Red Devils, the England international revealed last month that he is “ready for a new challenge” away from Old Trafford.
It came after he was left out of the Man Utd matchday squad for their 2-1 win over arch-rivals Man City in mid-December with Ruben Amorim choosing to omit Rashford from the next two squads too.
However, he returned to the bench on Monday as Man Utd lost 2-0 to Newcastle in the Premier League with the result keeping the Red Devils 14th in the table.
Rashford is likely to struggle to earn a recall to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad after Gareth Southgate left him out of the Three Lions’ squad for Euro 2024.
But Shearer thinks the Man Utd forward needs to “sort himself out” before he can even think about reigniting his England career.
Shearer told Betfair: “For Marcus Rashford, hard work and the correct attitude will see him get back to his best.
“I don’t know what’s gone on, but something must have happened for him to do that interview and say that it’s best for him to leave Old Trafford.
“You can’t just flick a switch and get back to your best form, we all have difficult periods where you might not be playing or can’t find the back of the net.
“There’s only one way to get through that; and that’s to get your head down, work hard and then things should change for the better.
“I think that it’s too early to talk about his England career – he needs to sort himself out and the club needs to sort themselves out as well.
“I don’t think that he can afford yet to be looking at an England career, which has gone pretty stale.
“He hasn’t been picked for such a long time now, and he hasn’t been playing recently, so I don’t think that anyone can entertain any England talk yet with him.”
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Rashford has been linked with a move to French side Paris Saint-Germain, while Saudi Arabian clubs are also interested in the Man Utd man.
Shearer added: “Whether something can be done in the next month or so, or whether he’s going to try and force his way back into the Manchester United starting eleven, I don’t know.
“I do get the idea that it would be very difficult to get a deal done, because of all the different angles and parties involved with the deal.
“I do think that it will be difficult to get a deal done this January, regardless of a loan or permanent deal. It’s a really difficult transfer to do.
“There’s a lot to do and so many aspects to a transfer. First of all it’s about agreeing a fee, secondly agreeing a salary – he’s on a huge wage right now and I’d be amazed if somebody in the Premier League would be willing to match that.
“But just because nobody reports it, doesn’t mean that there’s no interest from Premier League clubs in signing him.
“Nothing really surprises me in football, and just because there’s been no talk doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been any enquiries whatsoever.”
