Wayne Rooney has told Marcus Rashford to "knuckle down" and says the forward is the only player who could currently beat his all-time Manchester United goalscoring record, but only if he shows the right desire.
Rooney's advice to Rashford
Speaking on his new podcast Stick to United, Rooney, who scored a record 253 goals for the Red Devils, said: "It's just such a strange one with Marcus because I think we know he's got the ability. I think he's shown that."
"For me, has he got the hunger, does he want to play for Manchester United? Now, if he wants to play for Manchester United, I think the first thing he has to do – I've been there in 2010 when I asked to leave the football club – he has to build a relationship with the fans."
Body language and work rate
Rooney highlighted Rashford's body language as a key area to improve. "I think Marcus' body language isn't great, and so it might be something he has to work on. He might have to work with someone to make his body language look better."
"I think his work rate has to improve, but if he wants to be at the football club, he just needs to knuckle down. You do it, and he's a young lad. He's from Manchester. He's the one player who can go and get my goalscoring record."
Rashford's current situation
Rashford, who sits 15th on United's all-time goalscoring list with 138 goals, last played for the club in December 2024 after falling out of favour under then-boss Ruben Amorim. He then had loan spells at Aston Villa and Barcelona, but returned to United after Barcelona failed to turn the loan into a permanent deal.
Rooney added: "I don't want to see Marcus Rashford doing well at Aston Villa or doing well at Barcelona. I want to see him doing well at Manchester United and scoring goals for Manchester United. But that means he has to get his head down, work his socks off, and then be more positive."
"But it's on him. If he's back playing for Manchester United, I think he has to have a real close look at who's round him. Only he can say who the people are around him who he really trusts. Because there's not many people you trust really. It'd be a small amount of people, keep them close to him, go into training, work hard, get himself right. If he does that, he'll be fine."
