Man United told to make transfer U-turn as Marcus Rashford shines for England at World Cup

Manchester United have been warned that they might be missing a trick by not reintegrating Marcus Rashford after his England heroics.

The 28-year-old had the perfect response to losing his battle with Anthony Gordon to start the Three Lions’ World Cup opener against Croatia by scoring off the bench in the 4-2 victory.

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Rashford sent out a statement just two days after Barcelona opted against activating the £26million permanent option in his loan deal.

The forward scored eight goals and added nine assists across 32 league appearances for the LaLiga champions.

However, Barca completed a £70m deal for Rashford’s England teammate Anthony Gordon, rather than making his loan permanent.

The latter was then given the nod to start on the left for England’s first World Cup game, but was largely ineffective.

Rashford then stepped off the bench to add a fourth for the Three Lions after being expertly teed up by fellow substitute, Bukayo Saka.

Rashford has now scored four substitute goals for England – only Jermain Defoe (7), Harry Kane (5) and Peter Crouch (5) have more.

And talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent, Alex Crook, believes his boyhood club Man United should be looking into reintegrating him.

Man United told to make Rashford U-turn

“We’ve just seen England open their 2026 World Cup campaign with an emphatic 4-2 victory over Croatia,” Crook reported from Texas.

“Marcus Rashford, off the bench, scored an excellent fourth goal. He is going to be the subject of plenty of transfer stories this summer and is the subject of today’s transfer takeaway.

“Now Barcelona’s buy option to make his loan deal permanent expired earlier this week, I’m told by senior United sources, they don’t plan to engage with the Spanish Giants over another loan deal.

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“So, Marcus Rashford available on the open market. We know he has a £40m release clause in his contract that can be activated by any team other than rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.

“But when you see him play like that, coming off the bench, taking the game by the scruff of the neck, taking defenders on, scoring a brilliant goal from a fine finish, it does beg the question, are Manchester United maybe missing a trick here?

“Should Michael Carrick be reintegrating Marcus Rashford into his plans for next season, and could he play a part in a potential title challenge.”

Marcus Rashford transfer update

Gordon recently told talkSPORT that Rashford has been offering him tips and information about Barcelona ahead of his arrival in Spain.

Rashford, given a rating of seven out of 10 by Adrian Durham for his cameo vs Croatia, will return to Old Trafford after the World Cup.

He does have a £40m release clause in his United contract, but both Liverpool and Man City are blocked from activating it at that price.