IT WAS only last summer that striker Marcus Rashford had the world at his feet — but critics say he’s now out of control.
The boyhood Manchester United fan had just signed a new five-year, £325,000-a-week contract running until 2028 — giving him a guaranteed £84.5million in salary.
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All he had to do was keep performing on the pitch.
Smiling for the camera with boss Erik ten Hag, he said at the time: “I will give everything to help the team reach the level we are capable of. I couldn’t be more excited for the future under this manager.”
But for the first time, his Old Trafford future is being seriously questioned by fans and critics after he went out clubbing the night before training and rang in sick.
Ex-Premier League star and BBC pundit Chris Sutton yesterday told the It’s All Kicking Off podcast: “He thinks he’s untouchable.
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“This hasn’t been the first time he’s had a misdemeanour. It’s been continuous. He has no respect for the manager and no respect for his teammates. That’s the bottom line.
“He’s probably thinking he is going to outlast Ten Hag, but he’s out of control as far as I can see.”
Fellow BBC pundit and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer added: “Something is wrong — either at home or in his relationship with the club.
“He can’t keep doing this, he can’t keep wasting his talent. He needs strong management, someone to get hold of him and tell him there’ll be huge regrets come the end of his career if he continues doing this.”
Rashford’s latest actions have presented a huge challenge for disciplinarian Ten Hag, who has already put his foot down with stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho and forced them out of the club.
The only thing that may save his longer-term future at the club is a heartfelt apology to the Dutchman and the fact United are in dire need of attacking options.
An Instagram apology to the fans will no doubt follow and a promise to improve on his total of four goals in 26 appearances this season.
But the signs of a troubled life off the pitch were there before United announced in July last year that the 26-year-old had signed a new deal after a superb season saw him score 30 goals in 56 games.
A month earlier, The Sun told how Rashford had split with his fiancée Lucia Loi, his sweetheart from school. The news emerged after he was seen walking into a Miami hotel with personal trainer Courtney Caldwell during a holiday.
Rashford then appeared to be among players warned by Ten Hag ahead of this season that they needed to live their life right, on and off the pitch.
He said: “When you are not living the right life, you get killed. What is important? Sleep, recovery, nutrition. Three key areas and when you don’t do this right, you can’t perform.
“So when you ask me about Rashford, the same also counts for Rapha Varane and for every player. You will not reach the levels when you don’t do the things right.”
When asked directly, “Is there a concern that Marcus or any other player has a problem with their lifestyle?”, Ten Hag refused to take a backwards step.
He responded: “In general, when I came in at Man United, the standards were not right. That’s true.
“I demand the highest standards in sleep, recovery and nutrition because that makes the difference if you can perform every third or fourth day. At Man United we are demanding the highest standards.”
Rashford should not have been surprised by the warning as Ten Hag previously dropped him from the starting line-up against Wolves in December 2022 for being late for a team meeting.
He responded by coming on as a sub and scoring the winner, and later insisted in an interview he understood the decision.
He said: “I never made a thing out of it because if I was a coach, I’d have done the same.”
But in June, 2023, his personal life was being questioned when he was spotted in Malibu, California, with American Caldwell and Love Island’s Natalia Zoppa.
And three months later, he pranged his £700,000 Rolls-Royce.
Then, in October 2023, he incurred Ten Hag’s wrath again when he decided to go out to Chinawhite nightclub in Manchester to celebrate his birthday after United were beaten 3-0 by rivals Man City.
Ten Hag later said: “I spoke with him about it. It’s unacceptable. He apologised and that is it. For us it’s an internal matter. He’s very motivated to put things right.” That night out came nine days after his brother Dane was arrested on holiday with his partner in Miami on suspicion of battery.
The Rashford family closed ranks but Dane’s mugshot emerged online the following month — causing a split between Dane and Marcus’ other brother Dwaine Maynard, who looks after his career.
A source said: “The arrest was embarrassing and has caused a lot of problems within the family. Marcus is firmly in the middle of it and trying to keep everyone happy, which is making him unhappy.” Dane has since been cleared of any wrongdoing.
But the Rashford family were dealt a further blow when a cousin passed away, with Marcus paying tribute to him by looking up to the sky after scoring. Marcus now has to regain Ten Hag’s trust and simplify his life away from football.
Many fans are baffled how it has gone so wrong for the footballer, who could do no wrong in the public’s eyes early on in his career.
He earned widespread praise for his charity work and campaigning on food poverty. This led to him being awarded an MBE in 2020, when he was 22. He successfully lobbied the Government during the pandemic to U-turn on its policy of stopping free school meals for primary kids at the summer holidays.
And his motivational children’s book You Are A Champion won Book Of The Year in 2022.
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