Treble winner Teddy Sheringham has voiced his opinion that Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford doesn’t merit a move to Barcelona following what he describes as a “soul-destroying” period. The 27-year-old forward is on the hunt for a fresh start after spending the latter half of the previous season on loan at Aston Villa, having had a falling out with manager Ruben Amorim and expressing his readiness for a “new challenge.”
Rashford is one of five players who have reportedly told United they are keen to seek pastures new away from Old Trafford, where he rose through the ranks and netted 138 goals in 426 first-team outings.
Despite losing his number 10 shirt to newcomer Matheus Cunha, Rashford has caught the eye of Barcelona. However, former United striker Sheringham has openly criticised the situation, finding it distasteful. Speaking to Sky Bet, the ex-United star said: “If you assess where Marcus Rashford is at as a professional footballer, you strive as a youngster to get to the very top and play for clubs like Manchester United, and when you’re there, you appreciate it,” and “You don’t throw it away and say you want to leave.”
Sheringham lamented the current state of affairs, contrasting it with his own career aspirations and dedication to earning the honour of playing for a major club like United. He expressed his disappointment, saying: “I find the whole episode very soul-destroying, compared to the way I was back in the day and how I strove to get the privilege to play for such a huge football club.”
Reflecting on Rashford’s desire to depart, Sheringham added: “To hear someone talking the way he is talking, saying he wants out – I didn’t like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doing that at Arsenal, I thought it was soul-destroying, and I hope Rashford doesn’t get the move that he’s hankering for. From my perspective, if you go from Manchester United to Barcelona, that’s a step up that he hasn’t deserved.”
Rashford is on the lookout for a new club alongside Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, and Tyrell Malacia as Amorim aims to revamp a team that limped to a 15th-place finish in the Premier League last season. United’s clear intention to sell the five players has weakened their bargaining power, according to Sheringham, who feels this has caused their transfer dealings to “stagnate” while they try to offload squad members to fund new signings.
“It’s very easy to spend money on players, but it’s hard to recoup it,” he commented. “It seems quiet, but I bet there’s lots going on behind the scenes at Manchester United. Other clubs know United’s position. They’ve made it known that they’re looking to sell around five players, which signals to other clubs to make them ridiculous offers. I would assume that’s what football clubs are doing around Europe, and Manchester United are turning them down at the moment. The longer that goes on, I reckon those offers might be a little less ridiculous, but United want these players off the books – they’ve made their bed and they’ve got to lie in it. They’ll probably take anything from a quarter to a fifth of their asking price for some of them.”
