Marcus Rashford warned there is 'no way back' by Man Utd legend | OneFootball

Marcus Rashford has been warned by former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand that there is "no way back" for him at the club after seeing his attitude publicly called into question by head coach Ruben Amorim.

Rashford hasn't played for United since 12 December, making the matchday squad only once during that spell. His absence against Liverpool was put down to illness, but the player has otherwise consistently failed to impress Amorim with his level of application in training.

The boss has repeatedly been quizzed over Rashford, who went public with a willingness to accept a "new challenge" after being dropped for the Manchester derby last month, and has continued to state that he isn't prepared to pick someone he doesn't believe is best for the team.

"It's always the same reason…the training. If things don't change, I will not change. It's the same situation for every player, if you do the maximum and right things we can use every player," Amorim said after United beat Fulham on Sunday evening.

In the same press conference, he implied that 63-year-old goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital has a better chance of making the bench than Rashford at this stage: "You can see we miss a bit of pace on the bench, but I would [select] Vital before a player who doesn't give the maximum every day."

Ruben Amorim has questioned Rashford's training performances / Carl Recine/GettyImages

Ferdinand doesn't see how Rashford can have a future at Old Trafford, fearing that reintegrating him would ultimately send the wrong message to other players in the squad.

"If I was the player the manager said that about, my heart, my pride, my ego - it's embarrassment," the former United defender said on YouTube channel Rio Ferdinand Presents.

"For someone to question your application, to question you giving 100% for the team, saying you're lacking effort and taking shortcuts, that's a damning comment. There's no way back for Marcus after that. If he did come back that means other players can take their foot off the gas and have a way back into the team and take shortcuts."

Rashford has been heavily linked with a United exit this month, but his future is yet to be resolved with only a few days of the transfer window remaining. AC Milan are out of the running, while Barcelona would still need to make room in their squad before a deal can be done.

At his very best Rashford is a 30-goal-a-season player. The 27-year-old hit that tally during the 2022/23 campaign, just 18 months ago. Scoring that many goals in a single campaign, even just once, isn't a fluke. But Rashford also went over 20 in two of the three seasons leading up to that peak.

The England international hasn't even been a total disaster under Amorim either, netting the first goal of the new coach's reign within two minutes of kick-off against Ipswich Town back in November. He also scored a brace against Everton at Old Trafford a week later, which remains his last start for the club.