Marcus Rashford: Manchester United star hits out at ‘malicious’ rumours after missing win at Fulham

Marcus Rashford has attacked an unofficial Manchester United fan channel for ‘spreading malicious rumours’ surrounding the relationship between the player and the club.

The Manchester United forward chose to go out to the nightclub Chinawhite to celebrate his birthday after his team’s 0-3 home defeat to Manchester City on Sunday 29 October.

His celebrations were branded “unacceptable” by manager Erik ten Hag. The manager said: “I spoke with him about it. It’s unacceptable. He apologised and that is it. For us it is an internal matter.” Ten Hag added that Rashford was “very motivated to put things right” and “totally with us”.

The club then reported that Rashford had sustained a knock in training, and that was why he missed the Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle, and the 1-0 win at Fulham at the weekend.

But the United Stand, an unofficial fan channel, watched by hundreds of thousands, took aim at Rashford, with a presenter saying he “does not buy” that Rashford’s absence was due to a knock, claiming it might have been a form of punishment, and going even further to criticise the striker’s commitment to the club.

Rashford took offence, and commented in reply to the video on X, saying: “Please STOP spreading malicious rumours.”

The incident over Rashford’s birthday celebrations was not the first time he has clashed with the manager, and last year was dropped for a match against Wolves after being late for a meeting, although on that occasion he came off the bench to score the winning goal.

The Daily Mail also reported on Sunday that Rashford was absent from the meal following the win over Fulham, where some of the players celebrated at a restaurant in Manchester.