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Marcus Rashford faces a battle to not only stay at Manchester United beyond this season but also keep his spot at international level.
Issues off the pitch, combined with a lack of form on it, puts his career in danger of heading down a dangerous path.
Rashford enjoyed the best goalscoring season of his career last term, netting 30 times in all competitions for his club side.
He had never scored more than 22 in a single campaign before and many felt he had come of age in a United shirt.
Marcus Rashford must battle to save his Man Utd and England career
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He may only be 26 but Rashford is closing in on 400 appearances for one of the biggest teams in world football.
The forward has also quite rightly been lauded for the charity work he has carried out in recent years.
He was awarded an MBE in 2021, recognising his campaign to support vulnerable children in the UK, ensuring they received free school meals during the Covid pandemic.
Rashford has raised millions of pounds to the cause and that will never be forgotten as he fights to end child poverty.
But Rashford’s day job is to play football and he still may have another decade or more in the game.
He must be careful to ensure he doesn’t go down a slippery slope and let his career fall by the wayside.
During United’s tough times in recent years, rarely would a report come out that Rashford had got on the wrong side of his manager.
He was often shown as being the shining light in a team that was failing to live up to its previous heights.
However, it has become a more regular occurrence for negative stories to come out about him.
In the middle of his great run in front of goal last season, Erik ten Hag was not afraid to drop Rashford to the bench at Wolves after he was late for a team meeting.
Paul Pogba and most recently Jadon Sancho were regular offenders in that regard but Rashford rarely so.
Perhaps that was an early indicator that not everything was rosy for the former academy graduate.
At the time, Rashford’s form on the pitch was saving him and he came off the bench in that match at Molineux in December 2022 to score the only goal of the game.
Ten Hag even claimed that Rashford had made up for his lateness by bagging the winner.
Coincidentally, his latest disciplinary breach also saw him return against Wolves at Molineux and score inside the first five minutes on Thursday.
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Marcus Rashford has more work to do despite scoring for Man Utd against Wolves
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But this time there is an overriding feeling that he still has more to do to win back the full trust of Ten Hag and the United fans.
Rashford was permitted by United to travel to Belfast last week, meeting close friend and former team-mate Ro-Shaun Williams. However, Rashford took advantage of Ten Hag’s faith in him and it cost him dearly.
After what has been described as a ’12-hour tequila binge’, he flew back to Manchester last Friday morning before the rest of his team-mates were set to train at Carrington.
Rashford was hoping to be able to train but clearly the effects of the night before had too much of an impact. He called in sick and was made unavailable for Sunday’s FA Cup win at Newport County.
Ten Hag could have stuck with the ‘illness’ line but admitted there was an ‘internal matter’ that he would deal with.
Marcus Rashford has got on the wrong side of Erik ten Hag on a few occasions
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Rashford has felt the full force of punishment, with United fining him the maximum of two weeks’ wages, equating to around £650,000. It is a lot of money but to someone like Rashford, it’s a drop in the ocean.
Perhaps the incident would have been brushed under the carpet if he was performing at the same level he was last season.
But Thursday’s goal, well taken as it was, is perhaps not the end of the story just yet.
He only signed a new contract at Old Trafford last July, committing his future to the club until 2028. But serious doubts must now be raised as to whether he will be at United long term.
Paris Saint-Germain have held a long-standing interest in Rashford and perhaps a move out of the UK limelight could do him some good.
Marcus Rashford must be careful not to harm his England chances
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Just five goals in all competitions this season is not good enough for a player of Rashford’s quality.
England boss Gareth Southgate has so far kept faith with him and continued to select him for recent squads.
But he will no doubt have kept a close eye on the recent developments ahead of the Three Lions’ friendlies against Brazil and Belgium next month.
Southgate now has two reasons why he could decide to leave out Rashford, with this summer’s Euros in Germany looming.
Many believe his lack of form is enough to see other players such as Jarrod Bowen and Anthony Gordon get selected ahead of him. But his disciplinary issues at club level are also causing a headache to the long-serving England manager.
Man Utd and England need Marcus Rashford back to his best
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Rashford has suffered from a drop in performances before and was struggling for game time at United as recently as two seasons ago.
United interim boss Ralf Rangnick even said at the time that he could leave at the end of that campaign if he was that unhappy.
Rangnick was the one to go, pulling out of the consultancy job he was set to take, while Rashford stayed and netted 30 goals the next season.
But this time it seems different. With each disciplinary issue, the pressure on Rashford’s future ramps up.
The next few months are going to be extremely important as to the direction his career is going to head, both at United and for England.
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