‘I worked with Marcus Rashford – he tossed his Man Utd career away’ | Football | Sport

Marcus Rashford has been told he ‘tossed off his Manchester United career’ rather than having it stripped away from him. The forward is currently spending a season on loan at Barcelona, with the Catalan club holding an option to secure his permanent signature for £26million at the end of the season.

The England star has shone at the Nou Camp, netting 10 goals and providing 13 assists across 34 appearances. Rashford hasn’t featured for United since December 2024 and saw his iconic ’10’ shirt handed to Matheus Cunha by then-head coach Ruben Amorim over the summer.

Previously, Amorim declared he would sooner include his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach on the substitutes’ bench than select a player who fails to demonstrate full commitment, when questioned about Rashford.

The attacker spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa and was made to train separately from United’s first-team squad during the summer before linking up with Hansi Flick’s Barcelona.

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However, Rod Thornley, United’s former first-team masseur who served at Old Trafford between 2000 and 2019, insists Rashford must shoulder the blame for his downfall at the Reds, revealing that his demeanour began to shift out of the public eye.

“I’ll say it, I don’t mind, I know Marcus, and if he’s not happy with what I say, I don’t care,” he revealed on The Busby Way Podcast.

“He became unhappy. He became a different person. I watched this player that used to be a happy, lovely kid just moping around, especially in the club.

“Outside the club, I used to see him every now and then, and he was fine outside the club, but in the club, he had this demeanour about him that just wasn’t great. Then it transferred onto the pitch, and then you see him walking around, and you just wanted energy levels out of him, which is what Michael Carrick is doing now.

“He’s getting energy levels out of the players, and you wanted that out of Marcus, but you just weren’t getting it, and it was tossed off basically. For me, he’s half tossed off his Manchester United career rather than it has been taken away from him.”

Rashford has expressed his desire to secure a permanent move to Barcelona this summer. Flick admitted last month that the England international’s long-term prospects at the Catalan club remain up in the air, despite speculation suggesting they will activate the £26 million option in his loan deal.

“(Sporting director) Deco and I always speak about our team and what we can do,” the German boss said when asked about Rashford’s situation.

“Marcus’ performances have been really good until now, but we have to manage it. It’s Deco’s job and the club’s job to work on next season so we have to wait. We still have plenty more time, there are many months, many days, many weeks ahead of us, and that’s how it is.”

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