Rio Ferdinand sends clear message to Marcus Rashford amid Man Utd controversy
Rio Ferdinand has warned Marcus Rashford he needs to stay out of the limelight after the attacker was spotted in a Belfast nightclub despite reporting he was ill.
Rashford missed Manchester United's win over Newport County in the FA Cup on Sunday evening, having also been absent from training on Friday. The Englishman had called in sick to boss Erik ten Hag.
But it then emerged that Rashford had been pictured in the Thompsons Garage nightclub in Belfast. United were aware of his trip to Northern Ireland on Wednesday, with Thursday being a scheduled day off for Ten Hag's squad.
But reports suggested he was also in the club on Thursday night, before reporting ill. Ten Hag is now being forced to deal with yet another controversy, having exiled Jadon Sancho earlier this season, with United legend Ferdinand now firing a warning to Rashford.
"The way the manager responded to the question makes me think he's not happy with what's happened. There's something wrong. The club's all over the place, players in his position have been hammered by the club," Ferdinand told the Vibe with Five podcast.
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"One's gone out on loan to Dortmund now, one's not at the club anymore. There's a lot of noise around the club, you're one of the experienced players, keep that noise down. That's your duty.
"Like it or not, you're one of the leaders now. I think you have to be aware enough that when you're not doing well as a club, as a team, and you're not hitting the standards personally, you've got to be aware man.
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Rashford was spotted in a Belfast nightclub ahead of missing Manchester United's win over Newport (AFP via Getty Images)BEST EVER APP OFFER: Get six months of MUFC Pro FREE before the transfer window closes and pay nothing until next season. Just click here to give it a go
"Right now, Marcus should be the guy that's leading that team. You have to have the awareness. It's not only your manager that knows things, it's the whole world so you have to be more careful."
Rather than exile Rashford, Ten Hag has insisted the incident is an "internal matter" and that he will "deal with it". And Ferdinand believes the United boss is right to move forward with a different approach compared to his bust-up with Sancho.
"You can't treat two people exactly the same, because you don't know what incidents have happened behind the scenes. We've seen he's called out Sancho, he might have done 10 things that we don't know about," Ferdinand added.
"Rashford might have done three. So are you saying still that he has to go exactly the same, call him out publicly in the way he did with Sancho? He's going to handle it accordingly but I don't think you can go with a blanket approach.
"Each individual case warrants a different reaction. I just think he has to be strong, he has to be solid and he has to be consistent. Where's he go if he does it with Marcus? Who does he lean on?
"Whereas with Sancho he knew he had Rashford there. I hate talking about Manchester United about all of these extracurricar things. It is down to the club, the players and the manager to create a culture where people stay in check."
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