Marcus Rashford camp unhappy with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ‘prioritise football’ comments

Marcus Rashford’s camp are unhappy with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after he suggested the forward should ‘prioritise his football’ ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League defeat to Leicester on Saturday.

The game saw Rashford make a long-awaited return from shoulder surgery, which he undertook after his Euro 2020 campaign with England in the summer.

He made a near-instant impact after going off the bench as well, racing through on goal and making it 2-2 at the King Power Stadium with an emphatic finish. Although United went on to lose 4-2, Rashford’s return was encouraging and he should feature again in the Champions League against Atalanta on Wednesday night.

However, according to the Athletic, the England international’s team is disappointed with Solskjaer’s suggestion prior to the defeat that he needs to focus on football.

Rashford, who has been awarded an MBE and an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester University, has campaigned tirelessly against food poverty in the United Kingdom, famously forcing the government to U-turn on the provision of free school meals last year.

His work has led to calls for him to focus on his Man Utd commitments and his camp are unhappy that Solskjaer has dragged up the tiresome argument again. In his defence, the manager has claimed to have intended the comments as praise.

Regardless of intent, many are unhappy that Solskjaer made headline news ahead of the important game.

Rashford has showed little sign that he is not fully-committed to the cause at Old Trafford since stepping up his campaigning in recent times. He only missed one Premier League game during the 2020/21 season, returning 11 goals and the same number of assists.

Over the past few seasons he has played through painful injuries to help his side and has also returned to fitness ahead of scheduled on multiple occasions.