Manchester United legend Paul Scholes explains why Marcus Rashford should be banished from dressing room
01/28/2025 10:57 AM
Paul Scholes believes Marcus Rashford should face a dressing room exile at Manchester United whilst his future hangs in the balance.
Rashford hasn’t played for his boyhood club since December 12 as head coach Ruben Amorim continues to omit him from his squads.
The forward’s absences have followed his admission that he’s ‘ready for a new challenge’ away from United.
His days at Old Trafford appeared to dwindle even further on Sunday when Amorim suggested he’d rather play a 63-year-old coach instead.
“There’s no way back for Marcus after that,” said Rio Ferdinand, with fellow club legend Scholes calling for a strict decision to be made.
“I think Marcus has let a lot of people down, really, with his attitude, and I think that’s what the manager is trying to say,” he said on The Overlap.
“You think of the young players coming through the team, you think of [Alejandro] Garnacho, they’re looking up to people like Marcus.
“He’s 27 years of age and he’s clearly not training properly, he’s not living his life properly, they’re the example that these people should look at.
“I remember years ago when I told the manager [Sir Alex Ferguson] I didn’t want to play in that Arsenal game, the cup [League Cup] game [in 2001].
“The meeting we had afterwards, two or three days afterwards, I thought, ‘I’m going to get a right b******** here.’ He said to me, ‘The worst thing you did is let your teammates down.’
“That really stuck with me because I wasn’t really thinking about that. And now I think Marcus Rashford is doing exactly the same. Okay, he’s not refusing to play but in the way he’s behaving and the way he’s training, in a way he is saying, ‘I don’t want to be involved with these.’
“So, I think the fact of letting your teammates down in that dressing room, he should be banished from the dressing room, really.
“If he’s in and around that, and you people are seeing that as an example, the sooner he’s gone the better.”
Jamie Carragher also weighed in on Rashford’s situation at United and expressed his frustrations over its discourse.
“The thing that frustrates me about it is that we talk about him as much as we talked about Wayne Rooney, and the level of player is just completely different levels.
“A lot of it, and I must say this because listen, we’re all in the game, the media game, and he’s not just the only one, a lot of these top footballers now have these PR machines around them and it’s just constant media stuff getting pumped out.
“I just think it’s very simple, if I knew Marcus I’d just say, ‘Listen, go in to training, be early, do your work, train, give absolutely…’
“There’s no other answer, all these games, ‘He said this’, and, ‘The agent said that’, and, ‘Amorim said this’, it’s all b*******. Just go in and train really hard, that’s it, there’s no secret, and give absolutely everything, and all this feeding…
“You’ve [journalist David Ornstein] just said about him scoring 30 goals [in the 2022/23 season] there straightaway as soon as Scholesy said something.
“Now, I’m not saying you’re here to defend him, you’ve given both sides, but I know you’re getting information from his… All this thing…
“Did you ever have people?” Carragher asked Scholes before adding: “Who are these people that these players have, who are they?
“I only had my dad! These people… Just go in and train, and give everything for Man United, getting paid £300,000-a-week, all the rest of it.”
Man United are keen to offload Rashford this month and willing to accept a loan deal with no option or obligation to buy.
Barcelona, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund are just some of the top European sides that have spoken to his advisors regarding a move.
West Ham and Tottenham have also asked to be kept informed of Rashford’s situation.
It’s likely he will not feature in United’s Europa League clash away at FC Steaua Bucuresti on Thursday night, live on talkSPORT 2.
