Marcus Rashford has returned to first-team training at Carrington as the Manchester United squad prepare for tomorrow night’s Europa League match against Rangers.
The 27-year-old forward has not played for the Red Devils since an explosive interview last month following his omission from the match against Manchester City at the Etihad.
Three days after the derby, journalist Henry Winter released an interview with Rashford in which he revealed he wanted to leave Old Trafford in search of a “new challenge”.
Ruben Amorim had revealed the reason why Rashford was dropped for the City game was “not a disciplinary thing.” Rather, the Portuguese coach expanded, it was due to the 27-year-old, along with fellow attacker Alejandro Garnacho, failing to reach the “incredibly high standards” Amorim expects all of his players to abide by.
“It’s not a disciplinary thing. Next week it’s a new week, new life. It’s how you dress, how you eat and how you interact with your team mates. When people in the club are losing their jobs, we have to push our standards incredibly high.”
“Next week if they train well like the others. It’s the same for everyone. They will play or be on the bench. It was not a disciplinary thing. We have to improve our standards inside and outside the pitch. It was a normal week.”
However, Garnacho has since been reinstated into the first-team after clearly listening to the advice of his head coach.
Rashford, by comparison, declared his intention to leave his boyhood club, rather than buckle down and fight for his place in the team.
Amorim, understandably, would not have been impressed by this response to his challenge to Rashford to improve; as a result, the 27-year-old has not been played under the Portuguese coach since this gauntlet was laid down. Rashford was included in the match day squad against Newcastle on December 30 but this was solely down to an injury crisis reducing the first-team to its bare bones.
Old Trafford officials are open to Rashford’s departure this month with a loan move seen as the most feasible arrangement, given the forward’s lack of form and exorbitant wage bill.
AC Milan emerged as an early front runner but other European rivals, including Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund, have also joined the race. And it appears Rashford’s preference is Camp Nou with the Liga giants keen to add him to Hansi Flick’s talented forward line, if finances allow.
However, Barcelona’s economic situation is an ongoing struggle with El Blaugrana seeming to scrape through transfer window to transfer window by activating every conceivable ‘level’ in the club’s structure to continue signing players.
It remains to be seen whether the Spanish side will be able to find the funds to be able to finance a move for Rashford, despite the 27-year-old’s preference to swap Manchester for Barcelona.
And it’s perhaps this reason why Rashford was spotted in full first-team training today as Amorim oversaw his side’s preparations for tomorrow night’s match at Old Trafford. Whether the forward will actually be included in the match-day squad is another question entirely, however.
Marcus Rashford is 🔙 #mufc pic.twitter.com/JEzoETKosn
— Rich Fay (@RichFay) January 22, 2025
If Rashford does step foot on the pitch to face Rangers it suggests that maybe, just maybe, there is a potential way back into the fold at United under Amorim and the expectation of “high standards” is beginning to be met.
Featured image Stephen Pond via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
