Marcus Rashford has thanked Jamie Carragher for shutting down debate over his Manchester United future after Gary Neville pushed to discuss his situation.
The 28-year-old England forward reacted to a video clip from The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, where former Liverpool defender Carragher refused to analyze his status at Old Trafford.
Writing on social media on August 19, Rashford shared the clip and added: "Thanks, Jamie. It would be great to be able to get my head down and play football without my name being mentioned every day."
The exchange on the podcast began when Neville, the former Manchester United defender, attempted to bring up Rashford following his return to the Premier League club. Carragher immediately shut down the discussion.
"Oh f***ing hell. Can we do a podcast without mentioning Rashford? Stop it! Oh my god," Carragher said. "It’s like the Trent and Rashford - there was like a little part of the podcast - the Trent part or the Rashford part."
When Neville joked, "How is Trent?", referencing Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, Carragher expressed further frustration before Neville noted that Rashford had returned to Old Trafford. Carragher replied: "So what? Oh my God. He’s just a good player for Man United!"
Uncertainty surrounding Old Trafford future
Rashford returned to Manchester United after spending last season on loan with Spanish side Barcelona. His £325,000-a-week wages have made it difficult for United to find a buyer during the summer transfer window.
Although it appeared unlikely last year that Rashford would settle back at Manchester United, he featured in the team's final pre-season friendly and now looks set for reintegration into the squad.
Rashford was disappointed after Barcelona chose not to activate their £26m option to buy him on a permanent deal. The La Liga club instead spent £69m to sign his England teammate Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United.
Unless another club makes an offer for Rashford in the final two weeks of the transfer window, he will remain at Manchester United for the upcoming season.
Carrick positive on Rashford reintegration
Manchester United manager Carrick stated that Rashford could still force his way back into the starting line-up. Carrick praised the forward while addressing his recent career trajectory.
"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 said.
"I think there are ups and downs, and that doesn't judge you as a one-off kind of judgment," Carrick added. "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."
The manager noted that Rashford has fitted back in well with his teammates since returning to training.
"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," Carrick said. "So I'm really positive with that."
