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Manchester United icon Ryan Giggs has insisted he does not see a way back for Marcus Rashford at Old Trafford.
Rashford joined Aston Villa on loan during the January transfer window after he was banished from the team by Ruben Amorim, who cited training and selection reasons for his decision.
The forward has enjoyed a resurgence at Villa, notching four goals and six assists in 17 appearances across all competitions. However, uncertainty over his future remains despite his uptick in form and Villa retaining the option to make his signing permanent for £40m.
It has been claimed that Rashford has not entirely shut the door to a return to United but Giggs has admitted he does not see a future there for the England international.
Giggs was assistant manager to Louis van Gaal when Rashford broke into the limelight at the age of 18 in 2016. Giggs was of course in the dugout when Rashford scored a brace on his full debut in a 5-1 Europa League victory over FC Midtjylland.
Appearing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Giggs was asked whether Rashford may have a future at United. The 51-year-old answered, “No. I don’t think he looked happy at United. I think he looks happier now. I just don’t. Which is a shame because obviously I’d seen him as a part of the staff when we’d given him his debut.”
On what he would tell Rashford if he was still part of the coaching staff, Giggs replied, “First of all, he’s got to work harder. I talked about no matter what position on the pitch you are, you sprint back as quick as you sprint forward, and aesthetically, it didn’t look great. Especially if the team ain’t doing well.”
“Because fans will forgive you for missing a chance. They won’t forgive you for not working hard enough. They just won’t. Because they can do that. They can sprint. Everyone can. But then also, what I talked about, you know that he can play up there. He’s done it everywhere. He’s done it on the biggest stage. It’s hard from looking outside to in. But it looked like he’s not enjoying it.”
“And you’ve got to enjoy it. Especially flare players, attacking players. Because that’s your best moments. When your confidence is high, you’re trying things. Don’t always come off. But play instinctively and play like you did when you were younger. Freedom.”
Giggs also shared his candid take on Amorim, who has endured a difficult time since taking charge of the Red Devils in November last year.
According to the United legend, Amorim deserves to be afforded time and players he wants to turn things around at the club.
“The recruitment in the last, and I was part of it, the last 10-12 years has just been not good enough. Any business, any football team need that recruitment.”
“You need a bit of luck. You need young, you know, we had young players coming through. So you had a group of young players together with the best players in Britain, you know, the [Eric] Cantonas coming in, [Andrei] Kanchelskis, [Peter] Schmeichel. So you need a bit of luck that you have them young players coming through.”
“Recruitment. Time. I like the manager, I like Amorim. I think he’s charismatic, he needs time, he needs a few transfer windows, he needs backing, but also he needs help on what is a United player and what a United player looks like.”
United are back in action on Sunday when they face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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