‘He became a different person’ – Man Utd insider says Rashford ‘tossed off’ career | OneFootball

Marcus Rashford has been accused of “half-tossing off” his Manchester United career by a former club insider following his summer exit.

His comments are a stark contrast to those of Rene Meulensteen, who claims there could be a way back for Rashford at Old Trafford.

Rashford is currently on loan at Barcelona, where he has scored 10 goals and registered 13 assists in 34 appearances, but former United first-team masseur Rod Thornley believes the forward’s decline at Old Trafford was self-inflicted.

“I’ll say it, I don’t mind, I know Marcus, and if he’s not happy with what I say, I don’t care,” Thornley told The Busby Way Podcast.

“He became unhappy. He became a different person. I watched this player who used to be a happy, lovely kid just moping around, especially in the club.

“Outside the club, I used to see him every now and then, and he was fine outside the club, but in the club, he had this demeanour about him that just wasn’t great.

“Then it transferred onto the pitch, and then you see him walking around, and you just wanted energy levels out of him, which is what Michael Carrick is doing now.

“He’s getting energy levels out of the players, and you wanted that out of Marcus, but you just weren’t getting it, and it was tossed off basically.

“For me, he’s half tossed off his Manchester United career rather than it has been taken away from him.”

Rashford did not feature for United after December 2024 and lost the No.10 shirt to Matheus Cunha under former head coach Ruben Amorim. The forward was also made to train separately from the first team before his loan move to Barcelona.

Amorim had earlier stated he would rather name his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach as a substitute than select a player who did not give his all, comments widely interpreted as aimed at Rashford during a turbulent period.

The England international spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa before sealing his temporary switch to the Camp Nou. Barcelona hold a £26m option to make the move permanent this summer.

Despite strong numbers in Spain, his long-term future remains unresolved. Barcelona boss Hansi Flick recently suggested there is no immediate decision on whether the clause will be triggered.

“(Sporting director) Deco and I always speak about our team and what we can do,” Flick said.

“Marcus’ performances have been really good until now, but we have to manage it. It’s Deco’s job and the club’s job to work on next season so we have to wait.

“We still have plenty more time, there are many months, many days, many weeks ahead of us, and that’s how it is.”