Marcus Rashford's fall from grace: from Manchester United's teenage prodigy to Aston Villa loanee | OneFootball

Rashford is ‘ready for a new challenge’ at Villa Park. But where did it go wrong for the hometown hero at Old Trafford?

By the end of 2022, Marcus Rashford had reached stratospheric heights.

The Manchester United forward scored 30 goals for the Red Devils in the 2022/23 season and won the League Cup. He was England’s joint-highest scorer at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where Gareth Southgate’s men reached the quarter-finals.

It was perhaps the best campaign of his burgeoning career.

And then, things started going downhill, leading to him falling out of favour with United’s recently appointed manager Ruben Amorim.

Aston Villa completed the loan signing of the 27-year-old on Sunday, following months of speculation about his declining performances and rumours about his personal life.

As Rashford’s reputation and footballing future remain uncertain, here’s how the star, who rose to fame as a teenager, has fallen from grace.

Humble beginnings

Rashford emerged from humble beginnings. Born in 1997, he was raised in south Manchester in a single-parent household. Money was tight, so Rashford and his four siblings often relied on free school meals and food banks.

Rashford caught the attention of Manchester United aged only eight as a star of the Manchester junior club Fletcher Moss Rangers.

He became the youngest ever player to join the Manchester United Schoolboy Scholars scheme. Rashford was 11, a year younger than the programme’s usual minimum age for entry.

Making history

In his first professional game at age 18, Rashford scored a brace in a Europa League match against FC Midtjylland in February 2016. Three days later, he made his Premier League debut against Arsenal, scoring another two goals in a 3-2 win.

Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring Manchester United’s third goal in the Uefa Europa League Round of 32 second leg match between United and FC Midtjylland at Old Trafford on February 25, 2016

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Rashford achieved another milestone in March 2016 by scoring the only goal against Manchester City. This made him the youngest scorer in the history of the Manchester derby.

Rashford’s meteoric success continued. He scored a penalty in England’s shootout win against Colombia at the 2018 World Cup. This earned the Three Lions a quarter-final place at the global footballing showpiece for the first time in 12 years.

‘Always a hero’

As Rashford’s football career skyrocketed, so too did his philanthropy. He led several social impact initiatives, most notably his successful campaign for free school meals for disadvantaged children during the pandemic.

When the Government scrapped a programme providing free meal vouchers over the summer of 2020, Rashford launched a campaign that raised around £20 million, ultimately forcing a Government U-turn.

Later that year, he established the End Child Food Poverty campaign and was awarded an MBE in 2021.

Rashford led a campaign for free school meal vouchers during the pandemic

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Rashford’s off-the-pitch endeavours inspired a generation of children and young adults.

The fall from grace

Towards the end of the year, alarm bells began ringing for the young striker. Rashford said he was dropped from United’s starting XI against Wolves after he overslept and missed a team meeting.

Rashford’s professionalism was once again questioned a year later when he was photographed in the US during the international break.

“This is Marcus Rashford 48 hours before his first training session with a new manager,” wrote one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a video of Rashford in a Louis Vuitton coat. “Halfway across the world cosplaying as a rap star.”

Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag as United manager on November 24, further precipitating Rashford’s fall from grace.

The Portuguese frequently criticised Rashford’s performances in training and persistently refused to pick him.

Amorim suggested in January he'd rather give his goalkeeping coach, Jorge Vital, 63, a place on the bench instead of Rashford because of a perceived lack of effort.

“It’s not personal against Marcus”, said Amorim. “I have to make the same rules for everybody.”

His last appearance for United was away to Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on December 12, which lasted just 56 minutes.

"Imagine a talent like Rashford, our team should be so much better with him, but he has to change," Amorim said before United’s Europa League fixture against the Romanian side FCSB in Bucharest on Thursday.

"If he changes, we are more than welcome to include him, and we need it. But in this moment, we have to set some standards. We are waiting for Rashford, if he wants it really bad.”

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has frequently criticised Rashford’s efforts in training since joining the club in November

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Speculation intensified in January when Rashford was pictured at a nightclub in Belfast — just hours before he was due to train. He reportedly called in sick the next day and was fined £650,000 — two weeks' wages.

As a result, he was dropped for the FA Cup fourth-round match against Newport County. Meanwhile, a waitress who claimed to have met Rashford during what was described as a “12-hour booze bender” told the Sun that he was “on a mission to get drunk”.

On Sunday, after nearly two months away from the squad, Villa signed Rashford on loan for the remainder of the 2024/25 season. According to ESPN, the deal includes an option to make the move permanent.

Rashford said he was “ready for a new challenge,” leaving many wondering what lies ahead for his once glittering career.