Alan Shearer has warned Marcus Rashford that he has not done enough this season to cement a place in the England squad for Euro 2024 this summer.
The 26-year-old entered the international break having scored in three consecutive games, but has endured a difficult campaign on and off the field.
Rashford has just eight goals to his name in 35 appearances in all competitions, a drastic decline from last season when he scored a career-high 30 goals, the first United player since Robin Van Persie in 2012-13 in reaching the mark.
The lack of goals has been accompanied by rumors of a rift with Erik ten Hag, with the Dutchman supposedly unnerved by the player’s 12-hour drunken bender in Belfast in January.
Rashford has been a regular for England under Gareth Southgate, but Shearer suggested his place at the Euros was far from guaranteed.
Alan Shearer believes Marcus Rashford is not guaranteed a place in the England squad
The 26-year-old has scored just eight goals in a season marked by problems on and off the field.
And Shearer believes competition for places could see Rashford miss out on a place on the plane to Germany this summer.
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“If Rashford plays well between now and the end of the season, that could force the manager to intervene,” the Newcastle legend said in a Q&A on The Athletic.
“But I don’t think it’s safe for me to go, no.”
Shearer added that Rashford’s reluctance to play as a striker worked against him.
“He is not a center forward, he does not want to play there. He would go as a striker who can play as a striker in case of emergency,” he said.
“You can see from his body language that he doesn’t want to play there for Manchester United.
“If he’s going to be in the team, it wouldn’t be in front of Harry Kane, (Ollie) Watkins or (Ivan) Toney, it would be as a striker.”
Rashford, who has 60 England caps and 17 goals to his name, appeared to rediscover a modicum of form before the international break.
He scored a spectacular first goal in United’s 3-1 defeat at the Etihad in the Manchester derby and converted a penalty in the 2-0 win over Everton a week later, before scoring an extra-time equalizer during the United’s epic 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup.
The Man United striker has been a regular for England under Gareth Southgate.
But he only came on for 15 minutes against Brazil on Saturday (above) and was an unused substitute in the draw against Belgium on Tuesday.
However, his participation in the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium was limited.
The United striker was a largely peripheral figure when he came off the bench for the final 15 minutes of England’s defeat against Brazil on Saturday and was an unused substitute on Tuesday.
Asked after the draw against Belgium if Rashford’s absence was due to injury, Southgate said: “No, I wanted to see Anthony Gordon again.
“I thought he had a great impact in the first game and I thought (James) Maddison coming into that area could open things up a little bit for us.”
Competition is very tight when it comes to the forward positions, with only Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden appearing to have secured a spot in the position heading to Germany.
This leaves players like Rashford, Gordon, Jarrod Bowen and Cole Palmer competing for a position over the next three months.
The problem with extremes is that there are many of them. Grealish, Jarrod Bowen Rashford, Gordon and Bukayo Saka to name just a few, so at least a couple of good players could miss out,” Shearer added.
‘Grealish and Rashford are definitely under pressure because of their positions. “It’s difficult, but whoever Gareth chooses, he can point out all the options, while defensively he doesn’t have that much depth.”