Marcus Rashford appeared to suggest his focus is on staying at Old Trafford as speculation over his Manchester United future continues. The 28-year-old came off the bench in the 2-0 defeat to Hull City last weekend and has been welcomed back into the squad by manager Michael Carrick for the new season.
Rashford's hopes of a return to Barcelona ended last month when the Catalan club announced the signing of Karim Adeyemi. The versatile 24-year-old was Barcelona's second signing of the summer, after they bought Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United for just under £70m.
Contract and wage concerns
United had been keen to offload Rashford's £325,000-a-week wages, as that salary no longer fits within the structure at Old Trafford. However, the England international has been reintegrated into the first-team setup under Carrick.
Rumours over Rashford's future persist, with Arsenal and Chelsea the latest clubs linked with the forward. Despite this, the player took to Instagram on Thursday and simply wrote: "Old Trafford Next." The post included two pictures of him training in the gym at Carrington.
Carrick's backing
Ahead of the defeat to Hull, Carrick was asked if Rashford had spoken to him about staying for the season. He replied: "It's been pretty obvious since Marcus came back training with Kobbie [Mainoo] and Licha [Martinez] pretty much in Dublin that he's come back fantastically well, you know."
"He's enjoying his football, he looks fit, he looks sharp, he looks strong, he looks ready to play football. So I've been delighted with him since he's came back."
Carrick was also asked whether he sees Rashford as an option through the middle this season, to which he replied: "Yeah, of course, he can play through the middle, he has done. I wouldn't say it's necessarily his number one position, but he can do that. And I think we've got forwards that give us that flexibility right across the front line that we've used all of them pretty much in slightly different roles."
"So I think for us to have that option is really good for the season, obviously."
