The England legend believes thinks Manchester United will rue the decision made by their former manager Ruben Amorim
Gary Lineker has stuck the boot into Manchester United, suggesting that a permanent move to Barcelona would be the best course of action for Marcus Rashford. Rashford, 28, was loaned out to the Spanish heavyweights last summer after being sidelined from the United squad by former manager Ruben Amorim.
The England forward has made quite an impact during his stint in Spain, scoring 10 goals and providing 13 assists in 37 appearances across all competitions this season.
With Michael Carrick now temporarily leading United, it’s likely that the 44-year-old would relish having a striker of Rashford’s calibre in his team. However, the strained relationship between Rashford and Amorim seems to have sealed United’s fate in this regard, with the 28-year-old appearing content in his new environment.
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While United may be ruing what might have been, former Leicester City striker Lineker has added insult to injury. He has praised Rashford’s outstanding professionalism during his loan spell at Barcelona, whilst suggesting that turning his back on his childhood club for a future at Camp Nou would be in the player’s best interest.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker said: “He’s not getting many minutes at the moment. That’s for obvious reasons. Lamine Yamal is playing on the right and Raphinha is playing on the left and they are both in the top five players in world football. So it’s understandable. But whenever he comes on he does really well.”
When discussing the possibility of Rashford staying at Barcelona, Lineker added: “I think that would be a great move for him, don’t you? It looks promising for him.”
Regarding whether United will retain him this summer, Lineker suggested that Rashford might relish being away from the UK media spotlight.
“I think it will come down to Marcus. If he goes back to Manchester United he will face all the old criticism again,” he said.
“Oh, ‘He’s focusing too much on helping kids have food on their table’, like it’s a bad thing. They did this bizarre thing about why he was wearing some kind of flashy necklace.
“They don’t do that nonsense over there [in Spain] so he just gets on with his football. It was a fresh start and I would imagine he’s really loving it and not getting all the off-field nonsense he gets in this country. They leave you to live your life. It doesn’t compare to how our media is here.”
Barcelona hold a £26million option to sign Rashford this summer, and it appears increasingly probable that the club will make his transfer permanent at the season’s conclusion. Spanish publication SPORT has previously reported that Barca have achieved a breakthrough in negotiating a salary with the forward, should they finalise terms with United.
This means United could part ways with one of Europe’s most prolific forwards despite now requiring a left-winger themselves following Amorim’s decision to freeze out Rashford. The Portuguese manager’s mistake could prove financially damaging, with United likely to spend considerably more than the £26m Rashford would generate to secure his successor.
Barcelona retained their place at the top of La Liga with a narrow 1-0 victory at Athletic Club on Saturday evening, though Rashford struggled to leave his mark. The England striker was given his first league start in a month and played for the initial 60 minutes before being substituted by Raphinha.
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