Manchester United all-time leading scorer Wayne Rooney says Marcus Rashford is the only current player that can break his record, and he hopes that he eventually does.
However, Rooney says he has no sympathy for Rashford, when the current Red Devils forward claims he has been mistreated by the media.
Rooney also says that Rashford, a player whose commitment to the game of football has been publicly questioned by fans and media alike, lacks for leadership.
In an interview with TNT ahead of the win 2-0 win over Everton earlier today, Rooney was asked if he has any sympathy for Rashford.
“Not much to be honest,” Wazza answered.
“He’s in a privileged position where he’s playing for Manchester United. I’ve said before, he’s the one player I really believed could go and get my goalscoring record, and I hope he does because he’s a Manchester lad, but he needs to hit some consistency.
“Of course, he’s not having the best of seasons but he needs to find some form and consistency and become a leader of this team.”
Rashford, who has found himself dropped by manager Erik ten Hag for missing meetings, got into major trouble earlier this season.
Having told the club he couldn’t come to training, due to an illness, Rashford was seen partying in a Belfast night club the previous evening.
Rashford, who is in his ninth season at the club, is approaching half of Rooney’s United career goal total of 253.
It’s worth noting that Rooney hit that mark in 13 seasons, while the current pace for Rashford would take him over 18 seasons to get there.
Rooney went on to say that Rashford is not captain material, while mentioning three players that he believes are.
“I don’t think Marcus is that type of player, I don’t think he’s a leader and sometimes his body language doesn’t look the best from that point of view,” Rooney said.
“For me I look at the likes of Casemiro, [Raphael] Varane, Bruno [Fernandes] as captain. They’re players who should be getting that out of Marcus because sometimes you need your teammates to get more out of you as well.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.