Marcus Rashford was present at Manchester United’s training ground this week but did not train alongside Ruben Amorim’s squad.
Manchester United returned to pre-season action on Monday morning and new signing Matheus Cunha was spotted at Carrington, the club’s training ground.
Cunha, 26, has been given the no.10 shirt despite Marcus Rashford still being contracted to the club. Rashford had worn the iconic shirt number since 2018.
The Academy graduate spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, with Ruben Amorim suggesting that he was not working hard in training at the time.
Barcelona is his dream move this summer but it was recently claimed that Rashford wanted to play a full part in United’s pre-season preparations if he was still at the club.
Cunha reacts to Rashford’s three-word message after Carrington return
Recent reports stated that Rashford – along with Tyrell Malacia, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony – told the club that he wanted to leave this summer, and so was given extra time off to facilitate a move.
But these reports were pushed back on by those close to some of the players, and Rashford even turned up at Carrington’s training ground this week to train.
That’s according to The Athletic, who also explained that the English forward trained individually and did not take part in team training with Amorim’s squad.
Following on from this news, Rashford uploaded an Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon of him working in the gym, with the caption: “No days off.”
Lisandro Martínez and Cunha were among the United players to like Rashford’s post. Cunha reportedly followed Rashford on Instagram this week.
Some United fans would love the idea of the two playing together next season but it seems like a slim possibility. Cunha himself explained that he swapped shirts with Rashford after arriving in the Premier League.
“I came here [to the Premier League] after Rashford scored many goals. I remember I asked him to change shirts,” the Brazilian told United’s club media team.
Rashford might need to earn Amorim’s trust
It is clear that Rashford wants to hit the ground running next season no matter where he is playing, and also potentially get that tag of lacking hard work off his back.
A lot of United fans have criticised Rashford for being lazy on the pitch and some reports over the last year haven’t helped his case in that regard.
But with the World Cup coming up next year, the 27-year-old is clearly aiming for improvements and also must be eyeing the possibility that his dream Barcelona move doesn’t work out.
If that’s the case, and he potentially ends up staying at Old Trafford when the season starts, Rashford has to earn back some sort of trust from Amorim otherwise he will be spending more time on the sidelines.
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