Marcus Rashford sends blunt message to Gary Neville after Manchester United return

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford (Picture: Reuters)

Marcus Rashford has sent a message to Manchester United legend Gary Neville after his return to his boyhood club.

Rashford’s time in Manchester appeared to be up when he joined Barcelona on loan last summer, a deal that was expected to be made permanent in a £26million deal.

The 28-year-old had made no bones about his desire to extend his stay at the club, but the Catalan giants instead decided to pursue a deal for Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon.

And while an exit from Old Trafford still seemed the likely outcome earlier in the summer, a lack of serious suitors prepared to meet United’s £40m asking price means the Englishman has now rejoined Michael Carrick’s squad.

Rashford came off the bench for a brief cameo against AC Milan last weekend, and could be in line to feature in United’s first Premier League encounter against Hull City on Saturday.

In a trailer for an upcoming episode of Stick To Football, Neville was already keen to discuss the 28-year-old, but was quickly shut down by fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.

‘Marcus Rashford, what do we think? Last question,’ Neville said before Carragher quickly interjected: ‘Oh f*****g hell, can we do a podcast without mentioning Rashford? Stop it! Oh my god.

Rashford is back at Manchester United (Picture: PA)

‘It’s like the Trent and Rashford – there was like a little part of the podcast – the Trent part or the Rashford part. He’s just a good player for Man United!’

And responding to the video on X, Rashford made it clear he would appreciate Neville and others giving him some time to settle into the season back at United.

‘Thanks, Jamie. It would be great to be able to get my head down and play football without my name being mentioned every day,’ he wrote.

Rashford has only been back with Carrick’s squad for a short period, but the United head coach said he was already impressed by what he has seen in training.

Thanks, Jamie. It would be great to be able to get my head down and play football without my name being mentioned every day 😭 https://t.co/GTqrKhbZEE— MR (@MarcusRashford) August 19, 2026

‘He’s a very good player, and I think if you’re going to have a career over 10 or 15 years, there’s going to be times when things go in a direction and maybe a different direction,’ Carrick recently said.

‘I think there are ups and downs, and that doesn’t judge you as a one-off kind of judgment. It’s what happens over time, and now we’re in a positive place as a group, and Marcus can offer us so much.

‘He has done, and he can do again, so in that respect, it’s quite exciting.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville (Picture: Getty)

‘He came in, he’s trained really well. I’ve known him a long time, like I’ve known some of the others a long time, so I don’t treat him any different to anybody else, but it’s been good to have him around the group again this week. So I’m really positive with that.’

Elsewhere, former Red Devils captain Wayne Rooney believes Rashford must show the right ‘hunger’ to get his United career back on track.