Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has hit out at Marcus Rashford amid claims that the English international wants to leave in the summer.
Speaking to Odds Ninja, as quoted by Tribal Football, Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford has been slammed by former star Paul Parker amid speculations surrounding the Englishman’s future at Old Trafford.
Rashford has endured a torrid season this time out, struggling for form and fitness. The 24-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford under interim manager Ralf Rangnick, with the likes of Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga preferred over him by the German tactician. In light of this, he was also dropped from the England squad for the ongoing international break.
It has led to widespread speculation on Rashford’s future, with reports claiming that the Manchester United academy graduate is considering his future at the club as he is unhappy with his involvement.
Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has now criticised Rashford, insisting that all his off-field work is a distraction and he needs to focus his energies on football. At the same time, he also added that the striker’s association with an institution like United helps expand his reach in his ventures and cutting ties would not be the wisest move on his part.
“At the end of the day, if he’s not a Manchester United player, he’s not really good for anyone else. They’re not interested in him, PR wise, to be perfectly honest. Manchester United and England sells Marcus Rashford. Marcus Rashford without England and Manchester United is a nobody to the people out there who want to sell/market him,” Parker said.
“I look at the end of the day, he’s having a poor, poor time. He might just need to go and think about exactly what he wants. Put everything else outside of his job, put that away and concentrate on what his job is. Because without his job, he wouldn’t have had those distractions.”
“So, as far as I’m concerned, whatever he’s been doing and he’s putting his name to, he has to put that to bed. You can’t do both. Not at the level of football he’s playing and the fact that he plays for Manchester United. It’s too much around it, he’s in the public eye, everybody is looking at him. I just think it’s too much, too early and he hasn’t coped with it,” he added.
Rashford has been linked with clubs such as Arsenal and Barcelona recently, while there have been reports of shock interest from arch-rivals Liverpool. It remains to be seen what the future holds for the 24-year-old, who had shown such great promise in his career until the ongoing campaign.
