Wayne Rooney wish for Man Utd star Marcus Rashford looks dead as suspicions raised

Wayne Rooney has been left red-faced following Ruben Amorim’s decision to bench Marcus Rashford for Manchester United’s derby match against Manchester City. Rashford’s recent performances have been a stark contrast to his impressive 30-goal haul in the 2022/23 season under former manager Erik ten Hag.

Despite initially thriving under new boss Amorim, scoring the first goal of his tenure against Ipswich Town and netting twice against Everton, Rashford’s form has since dipped. The England international was relegated to the bench for losses against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest before being dropped from the squad altogether for the crucial clash at the Etihad.

Amorim justified his decision as a means to ‘push him harder’, hinting at subpar performances in training, but Rooney’s earlier prediction that Rashford could surpass his own goal-scoring record at United now seems increasingly ill-judged and premature.

“He’s in a privileged position where he’s playing for Manchester United,” Rooney told TNT Sports in March. “I’ve said before, he’s the one player I really believed could go and get my goalscoring record. I hope he does because he’s a Manchester lad, but he needs to hit some consistency.

“Of course, he needs to find some form and consistency and become a leader of this team. I don’t think Marcus is that type of player; I don’t think he’s a leader, and sometimes his body language doesn’t look the best from that point of view.

“For me I look at the likes of Casemiro, Bruno [Fernandes] as captain. They’re players who should be getting that out of Marcus because sometimes you need your team-mates to get more out of you as well.”

However, Rashford’s journey to surpass Rooney’s 253-goal tally seems increasingly challenging, with Rashford having scored 138 goals for United in all competitions so far, reports the Mirror.

Reports also indicate Rashford may be discontent at United, with Sky Sports revealing that the 27-year-old has not impressed new manager Amorim in training sessions and may leave in January, either on loan or permanently.

Premier League legend Alan Shearer weighed in on Rashford’s situation, sharing his concerns with the Mirror: “I don’t know him personally. I saw him three years ago scoring 30 goals a season, so it is in there, but we haven’t seen anywhere near that for a long time now.

“There’s only two guys who can answer, his manager and him with his attitude and his performances and his belief. His performances haven’t been there for a while; he’s gone from there to down there in such a short space of time, so clearly something’s not right.

“I don’t know why he’s gone from there three years ago to where he is now, but I don’t see a happy player. It would be wrong for me to speculate. I don’t know what’s going on around him.”