Erik ten Hag bluntly rebuffed questions about Marcus Rashford’s absence from Manchester United’s FA Cup tie with Newport as an “internal matter”. United’s official line is that Rashford has reported himself as sick but reports claim that he attended a Belfast nightclub on Thursday night.
On Friday, Ten Hag said that the England international had missed that day’s training session after calling in sick. Rashford had reportedly travelled to Northern Ireland on Wednesday to link up with his former Red Devils academy team-mate Ro-Shaun Williams, who last week joined Larne.
Later on Friday, images of Rashford allegedly partying in a Belfast nightclub circulated on social media. United responded by insisting that the pictures had been taken on Wednesday night, rather than Thursday, and that the United squad had a scheduled day off the next morning.
However, The Athletic report that the snaps had instead been shot on Thursday night, the day before Rashford called in sick to United training. Witnesses allegedly saw the 26-year-old partying in the Thompsons nightclub on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Asked by the BBC about Rashford’s absence prior to United’s game against Newport, Ten Hag bluntly said: “He reported ill.”
Pressed further on speculation that Rashford had been partying on Thursday night, the Dutchman added: “It’s an internal matter. I deal with it.”
Asked one more time to elaborate on the situation, Ten Hag appeared to grow frustrated, saying: “Listen, it’s an internal matter. Internal matter.”
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