GARY NEVILLE has claimed there could be a mole in the Manchester United dressing room amid reports Marcus Rashford’s team-mates are “sick of him”.
England international Rashford, 26, made headlines over the weekend when Erik ten Hag left him out of his squad for their FA Cup clash with Newport.
SunSport later revealed he had flown over to Belfast and went on a night out, before he called in sick for training the following day.
Ten Hag insisted ahead of the Newport game that it was an “internal matter”, before the club later released a statement insisting the player had “taken responsibility”.
The Man Utd boss then confirmed in his press conference on Wednesday that the case was “closed”, with Rashford fined two weeks’ wages for the incident – a sum totalling £650,000.
But Neville believes the saga has been exacerbated by individuals at Old Trafford talking to the media.
Speaking on Stick to Football, he said: “This morning, reading the headlines in the newspapers and the stories, it feels to me that there’s a few people briefing against him.
“Because there are things in there that his team-mates are sick of him, he’s distant in the dressing room, there’s things that have come out that mean there are people in the dressing room – or connected to the dressing room.
“Sometimes you think about support in the dressing room – who is grabbing a hold of him in that dressing room and saying, ‘Sort your s**t out’.”
Neville’s comments come after he insisted earlier this week that Rashford needs to be “careful” when it comes to his conduct.
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He told BBC Breakfast: “To me, going out for a drink or going out for a night out is something that every football player will do and should do, so I’ve got no problem with that whatsoever. They need to enjoy themselves.
“It’s just all about choices and timing. Manchester United have just had a winter break.
“They’ve had a couple of weeks off so there was a better moment for him to choose to go out.
“I would say, go out and have your moment where you relax with your friends, but your timing has to be right.
“Marcus himself knows – he’s an experienced player now, we’re not talking about a young lad – but he’s done it a couple of times in the last few months.
“I’ve always seen Marcus as being really responsible, a good professional and someone who works hard every single day.
“I know he’s going through a dip in form at this moment in time but it’s happened twice and it can sometimes become your personality if you’re not careful.
“If you do it too many times people can start saying, ‘what’s happening in his life?’
“He just needs to relax, calm down, choose when to go out and get back to playing football at the levels we know he can.”
Ten Hag appears to have swept Rashford’s antics under the carpet ahead of their trip to Wolves on Thursday evening.
It is a very different approach from his handling of the Jadon Sancho situation – which saw the forward banished from the squad for four months before he returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan.
But Rashford’s form remains a point of discussion as he continues to struggle on the pitch.
He has scored just four goals and assisted six times in 26 games this season, way down on his tally of 30 goals and 11 assists from the 2022/23 campaign.
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
