Marcus Rashford hits out at ‘malicious rumours’ around his Manchester United future After recent criticism from Man u fans
Marcus Rashford has hit out at “malicious” attempts to cast doubt on his Manchester United future.
The England forward has managed just one goal in 14 appearances across all competitions for United this season.
Rashford missed United’s 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday through injury after failing a late fitness test at the end of a week in which the 26-year-old was rebuked by manager Erik ten Hag for going out until the early hours last Monday to celebrate his birthday when he had training that morning.
His poor form and body language has led some supporters to question whether he should be dropped by Ten Hag.
But a video by popular fan channel The United Stand asking if Rashford’s future was “in doubt” drew a swift and withering response from the player on Monday.
“Please STOP spreading malicious rumours,” Rashford posted on X in response.
Describing their video on YouTube, where they have 1.77 million subscribers, The United Stand wrote: “Given Rashford’s injury against Fulham and his recent sub par performances, the question arises: should he be still be a regular starter for Manchester United?”
Rashford scored 30 goals for United last season and was rewarded with a lucrative new five-year contract in the summer.
He impressed for England in last month’s 3-1 victory over Italy which secured their passage through to Euro 2024 next summer but domestically he has looked a shadow of that player for United this term.
Ten Hag told Rashford his decision to go to a nightclub in Manchester until the early hours after the 3-0 derby defeat to Manchester City was “unacceptable” and said the player had apologised for his behaviour. Rashford did attend training on time later that morning.
Meanwhile, Ten Hag used an appearance at a Football Writers’ Association awards dinner in Manchester on Sunday evening to issue a rallying cry to his squad.
“We are in the project and when you are in a project, you know, ups and downs and this moment we are in a down, but I know and this, football is like life,” Ten Hag told the Northern FWA after accepting an award for winning the Carabao Cup last season.
“It’s not only going always the way up, it’s in the bad moments about how you stick together and how you continue the project, how you stick to the rules and the principles you have because, you know, and that is the way you finally achieve the success. And so I’m sure we are in the right direction.
“In football it’s all about winning trophies, it is very difficult after what Sir Alex [Ferguson] did with Manchester United to do well with Manchester United. That is a challenge I would not get out of the way. I wanted to do the job and last year was fantastic, difficult start, but finally it became a great season.
“We are still really pleased with it [the Carabao Cup], but it’s not enough with Manchester United as we have high targets and we have to go and get there.”
