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Marcus Rashford must transfer his training-ground displays into matches if he is to hold down a starting spot for Manchester United, interim manager Ralf Rangnick has said.
The England international has this week been linked with a move away from Old Trafford, where he has spent his seven-year career to date, after reportedly growing frustrated.
He has struggled for playing time and was left out of United’s XI for last weekend’s defeat to Manchester City, despite the absence of a recognised centre-forward in the squad.
Rashford is pushing for a recall when United host Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday, but Rangnick has not offered the academy product any assurances.
Instead, the German has challenged Rashford to prove his quality on the pitch when the time arrives.
“Marcus has to play on the same level he trains. This is all,” Rangnick said at Friday’s pre-match news conference.
“Marcus is training well, he’s got an abundant amount of talent, almost everything you need for a modern striker.
“It’s now about transforming the performance of the training sessions into the regular games.”
Rashford has scored five goals and assisted two more in 24 appearances for United in all competitions this term, the forward having contributed to 0.49 goals per 90 minutes.
That compares to 0.69 for Jesse Lingard, who leads the way among United players, albeit having played far fewer minutes than most.
Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo (both 0.66) and Paul Pogba (0.62) are the other United players to rank higher than Rashford, with Edinson Cavani (0.48) marginally behind.
The 24-year-old’s 145 minutes per goal involvement in the league this term is way down on his average of 111 in 2019-20 – his best season in terms of goals and assists.
