Inside Marcus Rashford’s demise from one of football’s biggest stars to a £60m problem for Man Utd
EIGHTEEN months ago, having signed a contract worth £84.5million, it seemed Marcus Rashford could do no wrong.
Now, with the transfer window closing on Monday night, the Manchester United striker faces being left out in the cold for the rest of the season — with only the size of his bank balance for comfort.
It’s a dramatic change of fortune for the former academy prodigy, who scored 30 goals in 56 games before signing a five-year deal in 2023.
The life-changing contract guaranteed Rashford £325,000 a week if he stayed at Old Trafford until 2028 — and millions more in bonuses if he helped Manchester United back to its glory days by winning trophies.
With 178 weeks left on his contract, he is guaranteed to earn £57.85million — unless he leaves the club.
Off the pitch, his campaigning on child food poverty earned Marcus widespread plaudits and an MBE.
The footballer also became a bestselling children’s author too, with his Breakfast Club novels drawing on his own upbringing in Wythenshawe, Manchester.
Not bad for a kid from a tough part of town who made his Old Trafford debut in 2016 aged just 18.
But now Rashford, 27, has become a £60million problem for United.
The Sun understands the multi-millionaire player may have met his match in the club’s billionaire minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who he feels wants him out as part of his cost-cutting regime.
‘He feels picked on’
And the speed of the star striker’s demise to persona non grata has left him “bewildered and devastated”, a source said.
They added: “Marcus thinks Sir Jim wants him out of the club and has basically told manager Ruben Amorim to get him out.
“He might just have met his match with Sir Jim.”
The England international has been bombed out of the team for the past 12 games under Amorim and is likely to miss a 13th on Sunday when United play Crystal Palace.
The first signs of Rashford’s demise from one of football’s biggest stars to the founding member of United’s “Bomb squad” can be traced back well before Amorim’s recent arrival.
Respected United We Stand fanzine editor Andy Mitten recently told TalkSport: “Every previous manager has had issues with Rashford. They’ve told me in confidence going back years and years and years.”
Under Erik ten Hag, he was twice admonished by the Dutchman for nights out.
He described Rashford enjoying himself at Manchester’s Chinawhite following a 3-0 defeat by Man City in October 2023 as “unacceptable”.
Three months later, Rashford was fined two weeks’ wages after calling in sick for training after a tequila-fuelled two-night bender in Belfast.
His career on the pitch has never recovered, while off it further problems have mounted up.
In July he was handed a six-month driving ban after being caught doing 104 mph on the M60 in December 2023.
District judge Lucy Hogarth handed him six penalty points which saw him banned as he had already been hit with six points in February 2023 after exceeding the 20mph limit in Manchester city centre.
And in September 2023 his Rolls Royce was written off after he collided with a grandmother while driving home late at night.
Work on a luxury mansion on a former golf course has also placed a strain on Rashford’s finances and appears to have ground to a halt, with the property lying empty.
Family relations have also been put under strain when his agent brother Dane was arrested — and later cleared — on suspicion of domestic assault while on holiday in Miami in November 2023.
Marcus and his other brother and fellow agent Dwayne attempted to distance themselves from Dane before he was brought back into the fold ahead of a potential transfer.
Rashford — awarded an MBE in 2021 for his work on child food poverty — has always maintained football always comes first.
But his off-pitch distractions have coincided with an extended loss of form which has seen some fans turn on the star, posting videos on social media of him highlighting what they say is a lack of commitment.
Portuguese manager Amorim this week warned: “Rashford has to change. We have to set some standards.
“We are waiting for Marcus if he wants it really bad.”
Rashford has to change. We have to set some standards. We are waiting for Marcus if he wants it really bad
Ruben Amorim
Days earlier, Amorim said he would rather pick his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach than a player “who doesn’t give the maximum every day”.
The insider added: “Marcus feels like he is being picked on.
“In the early days of training under Amorim, he was trying to learn new systems and other players were also struggling — but he was the one who was getting more vocal criticism.
“He knows he needs to leave but he’s shocked that no big team has pulled out all the stops to get him. There’s been interest but financially it’s a complicated deal and that’s put quite a few teams off.
“Marcus has been left bewildered by how quickly his relationship with Amorim has disintegrated.”
Just 13 days after Amorim started at United in November, Rashford scored against Ipswich within two minutes of kick-off.
He got two more goals against Everton on December 1 and praised the new manager’s “exciting” ideas.
The Sun can reveal problems between Amorim and Rashford came to a head when the manager accused him of going out two nights before the Everton game.
During a tense conversation, Amorim accused Rashford of behaving unprofessionally. The source said: “Marcus got called in by the manager who said he believed he had breached discipline by going out.
“Marcus denied it and was adamant he had done nothing wrong. He asked the manager to show him the proof he’d been out and said something along the lines of, ‘Are you calling me a liar?’
“Their relationship has never recovered, and it’s hard to see how it ever will now.”
The pair endured an uneasy truce before Amorim dropped Rashford — and winger Alejandro Garnacho — from the squad for the derby game against City on December 15, which United won 2-1.
Their relationship has never recovered, and it’s hard to see how it ever will now
Sun source
Afterwards Amorim explained his decision, saying: “The performance in training, the way you eat, the way you push your team-mates — everything is important at the beginning of something.”
Two days later, Rashford hit back with an unscheduled interview which caught the club by surprise.
Visiting his former primary school to hand out Christmas presents, he told journalist Henry Winter: “I think I’m ready for a new challenge.
“When I leave it’s going to be ‘no hard feelings’. You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United.
“If I know that a situation is already bad I’m not going to make it worse.
“I’ve seen how other players have left in the past and I don’t want to be that person. When I leave I’ll make a statement and it will be from me. I don’t have any regrets from the last nine years.”
This week Winter said: “Rashford is on a lot of money. For Amorim to invest in the squad and for the type of players he wants, they need to move some players out.”
Rashford, who has few close friends in the dressing room, has been advised by United legend Wayne Rooney to find a new club.
Rashford is on a lot of money. For Amorim to invest in the squad and for the type of players he wants, they need to move some players out
Henry Winter
Wazza said on the Stick To Football podcast: “I’ve spoken to Marcus a couple of times.
“For him to have a fresh start, he needs to leave the club. The fact that your manager is coming out and saying that you’re not training right is crazy.”
The comments came after Rashford’s brothers Dwayne and Dane spent the last few weeks courting top European clubs including AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona in an attempt to strike a move away from Old Trafford.
A £35million-a-year contract from an unnamed Saudi club has also been mooted but was turned down as Rashford still hopes to add to his 60 England international caps.
Now the rumour mill is tipping him for a move to Aston Villa.
‘I’ve made sacrifices’
Understanding Rashford’s current mindset is difficult, with the player keeping his cards close to his chest and only trusting a small circle of mostly family members who help with his career.
But in February 2024, the player gave a rare insight by penning an article for the Player’s Tribune.
He said: “I’m a human being. I’ve made mistakes that a lot of lads in their 20s make, and I’ve tried to learn from them. But I’ve also made sacrifices that nobody sees.
“Money is not what keeps you playing through the hard times. It’s the love of the game, plain and simple.
“If you back me, good. If you doubt me, even better.”
Rashford, who has won the FA Cup twice with United, is regarded by some at the club as a player who struggles to build relationships and lacks leadership skills.
The disconnect was highlighted recently when pictures were released of Rashford greeting teammates in the dressing room ahead of United’s clash against Newcastle United on December 30 — while still wearing his headphones.
Sir Jim and Rashford can only hope that over the next 48 hours, they can reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion, because rekindling the once-warm relationship between club and player seems unlikely.
Our source said: “Marcus is determined that he’s not going to do what the club want to do unless it is the right thing for him.
“There is no happiness anymore. Marcus is a £60million problem for United. But the onus is on the club to solve it.”
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