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Marcus Rashford is set to be re-integrated at Manchester United after the World Cup, with the forward expected to start next season as part of Michael Carrick’s squad. Due to a breakdown in the relationship between the player and club, the 28-year-old, who has two years left on his contract, last played for United in a 2-1 Europa League win at Viktoria Pilzen in December 2024. There are no problems between Rashford and Carrick.
Rashford will have a three-week break at the close of England’s World Cup campaign and the plan is for him to return to United for pre-season training.
United’s preference would be to ease their wage bill by offloading Rashford’s circa £17.5m a-year salary, but there is a lack of requisite suitors for the him. Rashford was loaned to Aston Villa in January 2025 then Barcelona for the season just finished. After scoring the goal in Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Real Madrid in May that sealed the La Liga title, Rashford stated his preference was to re-sign for the club.
But while a fee of £26m would have triggered his release clause, Barcelona signed Anthony Gordon, whose preferred position is also wide left, for £60.7m plus add-ons. United have no plan to engage with Barcelona regarding another temporary move for Rashford.
Rashford’s relationship with United was ruptured after he was taken off on 56 minutes at Pilzen by Ruben Amorim, the then head coach refusing to consider Rashford for selection. The Portuguese explained why later that month. “It is important the performance in training, in games, the way you dress, eat, engage with your teammates, push your teammates,” said Amorim, who also described Rashford’s absence as being for selection reasons.
United’s pre-season begins on Thursday and they have six friendlies before the new campaign, beginning with a meeting with Wrexham in Helsinki on 18 July, the day before the World Cup final.
United then face Rosenborg in Trondheim, on 24 July, Atlético Madrid in Stockholm (1 August), Paris Saint-Germain in Gothenburg (8 August), Leeds in Dublin (12 August), and Milan in Wroclaw (15 August). A week later they travel to Hull to begin the Premier League season. If England reach the World Cup final then the earliest Rashford could return to United would be 10 August.
Carrick was appointed permanent head coach in late May after initially replacing Amorim in January as a caretaker. He guided United back into the Champions League with a third-place finish and is excited about next season.
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“We know we’ve got what it takes to beat the best teams in this league,” he told the club website. “Now it’s about doing that over a full Premier League campaign, while also fighting for every trophy available to us.
“I cannot wait to lead the group forward next season and for those special European nights to return to Old Trafford. We are ready to kick on and give you more of the great moments that United are all about.”
