Alan Shearer has warned Marcus Rashford he has not done enough this season to cement a place in the England squad for Euro 2024 this summer.
The 26-year-old went into the international break on the back of scoring in three consecutive games, but has endured a difficult campaign on and off the pitch.
Rashford has only eight goals to his name in 35 appearances in all competitions, a drastic decline from last season when he scored a career-best 30 goals – the first United player since Robin Van Persie in 2012-13 to hit the milestone.
The lack of goals has been accompanied by rumours of a rift with Erik ten Hag, with the Dutchman reportedly nonplussed at the player’s 12-hour drinking binge in Belfast in January.
Rashford has been an England regular under Gareth Southgate, but Shearer suggested his place at the Euros was far from guaranteed.
Alan Shearer believes Marcus Rashford is not guaranteed a place in the England squad
The 26-year-old has scored just eight goals in a season marred by issues on and off the pitch
And Shearer believes competition for places could see Rashford miss out on a place on the plane to Germany this summer
‘If Rashford plays well between now and the end of the season, then that could potentially force the manager’s hand,’ the Newcastle legend said in a Q&A on The Athletic.
‘But I don’t think he’s a certainty to go, no.’
Shearer added Rashford’s reluctance to play as striker worked against him.
‘He’s not a centre-forward, he doesn’t want to play there. He’d be going as a wide forward who can play as a striker in an emergency,’ he said.
‘You can tell from his body language that he doesn’t want to play there for Manchester United.
‘If he’s going to be in the squad, it wouldn’t be ahead of Harry Kane, [Ollie] Watkins or [Ivan] Toney, it’d be as a wide forward.’
Rashford, who has 60 England caps and 17 goals to his name, appeared to rediscover a modicum of form ahead of the international break.
He scored a spectacular opener in United’s 3-1 defeat at the Etihad in the Manchester derby and converted a penalty in the 2-0 win over Everton a week later, before scoring the equaliser in extra-time during United’s epic 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup.
The Man United forward has been a regular for England under Gareth Southgate
But he only came on for 15 minutes against Brazil on Saturday (above) and was an unused sub for the draw against Belgium on Tuesday
His involvement over the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, however, was limited.
The United forward was a largely peripheral figure when he came off the bench for the final 15 minutes of England’s defeat against Brazil on Saturday and was an unused substitute on Tuesday.
When asked after the draw against Belgium if Rashford’s absence was down to injury, Southgate said: ‘No, I wanted to see Anthony Gordon again.
‘I thought he had an excellent impact in the first game and I thought that [James] Maddison coming into that area could open things up for us a bit.’
Competition is rife when it comes to the wide forward spots, where only Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden appear nailed on for a place on the place to Germany.
It leaves the likes of Rashford, Gordon, Jarrod Bowen and Cole Palmer all jockeying for position over the next three months.
The problem the wingers have is there are so many of them. Grealish, Jarrod Bowen Rashford, Gordon and Bukayo Saka, to name just a few, and so at least a couple of good players could miss out,’ Shearer added.
‘Grealish and Rashford are definitely under pressure for their positions. It’s tough but, whoever Gareth picks, he can just point at all the options, whereas defensively he doesn’t have anywhere near as much depth.’
