Reports indicate that Manchester United will be dealing with a big transfer headache come the summer transfer window as Marcus Rashford has refused to leave the club.
Having signed on for a few more years to a mega-money contract following an impressive display in the 2022/23 season, Rashford has now fallen short of those glory days and is considered a deadweight at the club.
The strict enforcement of the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) in the Premier League also suggests that Manchester United will have to do a lot by way of sales in the upcoming transfer window.
They are currently not in any trouble but with their struggles to find suitors for some of the names on their exit list, fans will not be wrong to expect a similar story to Everton’s or Nottingham Forest’s during the 2024/25 Premier League season.
This is why they have told Rashford that he can leave.
The club know that they can get good money for their academy graduate but are not outrightly marketing him to clubs. The story is that they will accept deals of a certain level if they come because the new INEOS regime is looking to reinvent the squad. Rashford, however, has explicitly stated that he is not leaving.
United’s current untouchables list includes André Onana, Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund. Rashford’s refusal to leave is not necessarily a bad thing for the club in the short run but it could affect their standing with the league in the long run.
They also stand the chance of losing out on a big money deal for the player if he happens to have a repeat of his dismal 2023/24 season in 2024/25.
Rashford, who is with the club until 2028, intends to fight for his place and has even been seen physically conditioning himself to be his best before Erik ten Hag calls the team together for pre-season training.
Erik ten Hag plans to have talks with the forward, however, as he prepares for his third season in the United dugout. The Dutchman had earlier justified Gareth Southgate’s omission of the United academy graduate while speaking on Dutch TV during a coverage of the ongoing Euros tournament.
The former Ajax Amsterdam manager is currently on holiday but will return to England soon to begin pre-season preparations. Then, he will have a talk with Rashford and there will be clarity on the player’s future at Old Trafford.
