Manchester United have confirmed that Marcus Rashford will be available for selection when they travel to Wolves for a Premier League showdown on Thursday evening after the winger missed the Red Devils’ FA Cup clash with Newport on Sunday. Rashford didn’t feature in the matchday squad in Wales after he was spotted at nightclubs in Northern Ireland last week.
“Marcus has taken responsibility for his actions,” United said. “This has been dealt with as an internal disciplinary matter, which is now closed.”
At the weekend, The Athletic reported that Rashford went out in Belfast on Wednesday night. And the England star then attended a nightclub on Thursday evening before reporting himself as too ill to attend training in Manchester the following morning.
Rashford returned to England on a private flight on Friday, with video footage subsequently emerging of the player out in Belfast. The 26-year-old was pictured in Lavery’s Bar on Wednesday night, before visiting Thompsons Garage on Thursday. And United manager Erik ten Hag then stated on Friday: “This morning, Rashford was ill and [Jonny] Evans was ill so we have to see how they recover.”
Following United’s 4-2 victory over Newport at Rodney Parade, Ten Hag was asked about Rashford’s absence. And the Dutchman said: “He reported ill. The rest is an internal matter. I deal with it, we will deal with it.”
Ten Hag then explained there was “no good culture” when he took over as United boss in 2022. And after being quizzed over whether Rashford’s behaviour was an example of that “no good culture”, the ex-Ajax boss added: “I don’t go in this case. We talked before about it, we played a good game, and now we move on.”
The Athletic have now explained that Rashford attended a meeting with United football director John Murtough and Ten Hag at Carrington on Monday alongside his brother and agent Dwaine Maynard as the Red Devils attempted to get to the bottom of what happened in Belfast. And it appears the player will be recalled to the matchday squad later this week.
Rashford has fallen foul of United’s disciplinary procedures in the past and was dropped for the Red Devils’ Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle in November after he had celebrated his birthday in a Manchester hotspot just hours after his side had lost to Manchester City in the Premier League.
He was also relegated to the substitutes’ bench for United’s 2022 New Year’s Eve clash with Wolves after oversleeping and being late for a team meeting.
Rashford enjoyed a remarkable season last time around as he bagged 30 goals and 11 assists in all competitions. But since signing a new five-year contract last summer, the attacker has only contributed four Premier League strikes, with United already 11 points behind fourth-place Aston Villa in the top-flight table after being dumped out of the Champions League before Christmas.