Rashford faces fine after skipping training for ridiculous reason

Manchester United faced Newport in Sunday’s FA Cup encounter without Marcus Rashford, amid rumours that he was spotted at a Belfast nightclub earlier in the week.

The Englishman reportedly went out at Belfast’s Thompsons Garage club during the middle of the week. The Daily Mail reports that a video of him entering the club on Wednesday night went viral on social media.

An X user uploaded a video showing the 26-year-old and his friends making their way down the nightclub’s stairs. It was uploaded with the caption: “Rashford out in Thompsons last night in Belfast clearly not helping himself with regards to performance.”

But after having supper, Rashford became unwell and had to postpone his journey home, according to sources close to him. Even United manager Erik ten Hag also acknowledged that the striker is sick and will miss the FA Cup game.

Not Rashford’s first mistake

“Marcus Rashford has stayed at Carrington to train as he recovers; he is not well enough to be in the squad for Newport following illness,” read Sunday’s media statement from the Old Trafford club.

Erik ten Hag explained the player’s absence after the match by saying, “He reported ill”, suggesting that the issue is internal. “It’s an internal matter. I will deal with it”, he told the BBC.

Because of his visit to the Belfast club during the middle of the week, Rashford may face disciplinary punishment. Reportedly, this is the reason he had to postpone returning to Manchester.

Not only that, but Rashford has already broken the rules already this season. The incident is not the forward’s first mid-season party bust. Last October, Ten Hag called out his “unacceptable” behavior during a night out on the town after Manchester City’s loss.

The England international reportedly celebrated his 26th birthday in a nightclub just after their humiliating derby defeat. It is unknown if he remained until the party at Chinawhite ended at 3:30 in the morning.

At the time, the Dutch manager opted to defend his player, saying, “He [Rashford] is very motivated to put things right,” despite the fact that he was obviously unhappy with the striker on that occasion. “He’s totally with us. He has made a mistake but that doesn’t say he’s not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he’s doing, I know.”

Experts already doubt something is up

Additionally, England icon Alan Shearer has raised concerns about Rashford’s connection with the Old Trafford side. Not only that, but he has given the gifted forward some harsh advice.

“If it’s an internal matter, you’d think something is up. There’s a huge talent in there with Marcus Rashford. We’ve seen him be disciplined last season when he was late to a meeting before a game but something is clearly wrong – either at home or in his relationship with the football club.

‘He can’t keep doing this, he can’t keep wasting his talent because it’s not right. He needs strong management, someone to get hold of him and tell him there’ll be huge regrets come the end of his career if he continues doing this.

‘You can’t keep doing it, it needs sorting now. Thirty goals last season, four this season. When I see him play, it looks like he’s got the world on his shoulders so it needs sorting now because he can’t really deal with it,” he said, via Daily Mail.

Photo credit: IMAGO / Every Second Media.