Marcus Rashford is set to return to Manchester United this summer after loan spells with Barcelona and Aston Villa

Marcus Rashford’s chances of reclaiming his place in the Manchester United first team have received a significant lift after a long-standing colleague voiced his support for the forward’s comeback. The 28-year-old is due to return to Old Trafford this summer after a successful loan stint with Barcelona.

The England star enjoyed one of his finest seasons in recent memory while in Spain, contributing to the Catalan club’s La Liga triumph with an impressive tally of 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions. While Barcelona were widely tipped to make the move permanent, they instead splashed out £70million on Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon, leaving Rashford’s future uncertain.

The homegrown talent’s rapport with United soured under previous manager Ruben Amorim, who sidelined him after Rashford openly declared he was “ready for a new challenge” elsewhere. However, Harry Maguire has suggested Rashford should be given an opportunity to flourish under newly appointed permanent head coach Michael Carrick.

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When questioned about whether he and his team-mates would embrace Rashford’s return, the United centre-back told The Rest Is Football: “Yeah, of course, I have an amazing relationship with Marcus and have had some great times with him over the years. I know what a wonderful player he can be. I’m sure it’s up to the club and up to Marcus to find a mutual agreement

“Of course, if Marcus does come back, we want him to come back and play and be happy and confident. It needs to be right for himself, it needs to be right for the club, but everyone knows what a great player Marcus can be for whatever club he plays for next season.”

Maguire’s position stands in sharp contrast to that of United legend Paul Scholes, who previously called on his former club to “banish” Rashford following his controversial remarks. “I think Marcus has let a lot of people down really, with his attitude, and I think that’s what the manager is trying to say,” Scholes told The Overlap Fan Debate.

“OK, he’s not refusing to play, but in the way he’s behaving and the way he’s training, in a way he is saying I don’t want to be involved with these. So I think the fact of letting your team-mates down in that dressing room – he should be banished from the dressing room really. If he’s in and around that and young people are seeing that as an example, the sooner he’s gone the better.”

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Rashford’s controversial comments are said to have upset several United players – particularly given they came just days after the club’s impressive derby triumph over Manchester City in December 2024. “Some of the players are really annoyed at what Marcus said and why he chose to say it at the time,” a source close to the squad told The Sun.

“They were all buzzing after beating City and then he basically put in a transfer request after being dropped for one game.”

The local lad remains under contract for another two years, earning a reported £325,000 per week, and is anticipated to rejoin Carrick’s squad once England’s World Cup campaign concludes – if there are no transfer developments in the meantime, that is.

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United officials have assured the BBC that they will sign players this summer. They are said to be calm about the situation, given that it is still the relatively early stages of the window, while stressing that they will not be going after big names and instead prioritising performances.

The club are credited with an interest in Alex Scott, Aurelien Tchouameni, Carlos Baleba, Felix Nmecha and Tyler Adams after missing out on Matheus Fernandes. But the former two are reportedly unavailable, with Bournemouth saying Scott is not for sale, and the feeling being that Tchouameni will remain at Real Madrid.

FILE– Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena in action during the Czesław Cybulski Memorial in Poland. –EJ OBIENA/INSTAGRAM

MANILA, Philippines — EJ Obiena nabbed another gold medal, ruling the Raiffeisen Austrian Open in Eisenstadt, Austria on Thursday (Philippine time).

In a span of days, Obiena won back-to-back gold medals in his ongoing outdoor season.

The Filipino Olympic pole vaulter cleared 5.75 meters to rule the competition and set a new meet record.

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Obiena eclipsed the previous meet record of 5.74 meters, set by Austin Miller in 2024, while also matching his outdoor personal best, which he set during his runner-up finish in Düsseldorf, Germany, last month.

“5.75m here at Eisenstadt. For the win and new stadium record,” said Obiena.  “After many, many, many runs and 3rd attempt makes, we needed to call it a night after 11pm.”

Great Britain’s Owen Heard placed second, while Czech Republic’s Dan Barta settled for bronze after both cleared 5.55m.

It took three attempts for Obiena to clear 5.75m.

He recently won the Czesław Cybulski Memorial in Poland, leaping 5.72m last Monday.

Former India player Saba Karim has opined that Ishan Kishan pressed the self-destruct button in the first T20I against England. The analyst highlighted that the wicketkeeper-batter was responsible for his run-out as he attempted a non-existent run.

Kishan was run out for a two-ball duck as India set England a 190-run target in Durham on Wednesday, July 1. However, with rain preventing England from starting their chase, the game ended as a no-result.

During a discussion on JioHotstar, Saba noted that there would have been a slim chance of Kishan and Abhishek Sharma completing the run had the latter responded to the call immediately.

“It was self-destruction. Both Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan were watching the ball. They should have been looking at each other. There might have been a possibility had Abhishek Sharma responded very quickly, but normally, the non-striker waits for the ball to beat the fielder in the infield, and he runs after that only,” he said.

The former India wicketkeeper-batter reckoned that Abhishek would have struggled to reach the striker’s end, urging the visiting batters to improve their communication.

“In my opinion, there was no run there. Even if Abhishek Sharma had tried, it would have been difficult for him to reach the other end because Jos Buttler did an excellent job. He came to the stumps very quickly. Both batters need to work on their communication. It happened in Ireland and here as well,” Saba observed.

Ishan Kishan was run out after being sent back by Abhishek Sharma, with Harry Brook’s throw to Jos Buttler finding him short of the crease. He was run out in the second T20I against Ireland as well after a mix-up with Tilak Varma.

“There was no run at all” – Irfan Pathan on Ishan Kishan’s run-out in ENG vs IND 2026 1st T20I

In the same discussion, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan also reckoned that Ishan Kishan attempted to steal a non-existent run.

“There was no run at all. You would have heard Abhishek saying that he (Kishan) should have allowed the ball to pass the midwicket fielder, and then the mid-on fielder also wasn’t standing on the 30-yard circle. He was standing slightly ahead. When that happens, he is also attacking the ball,” he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator concurred with Saba Karim that Abhishek Sharma would have gotten run out had he responded affirmatively to Kishan’s call.

“You played the ball softly. You have to take the run only after the ball passes the fielder who is trying to cut the ball. In my opinion, there was no run. I totally agree with Saba bhai. Abhishek would have gotten run out. It means you took a high-risk run, and when you do that, someone will be sacrificed. You got run out yourself. So it was a wrong decision from Ishan Kishan,” Pathan observed.

Ishan Kishan’s run-out reduced India to 6/2. Abhishek Sharma (59 off 24) and Shreyas Iyer (68 off 47) then bailed the team out of trouble with an 82-run third-wicket partnership before Shivam Dube’s unbeaten 21-ball 42 took them to a fighting total.