Ralf Rangnick says Marcus Rashford is free to seek a move away from Manchester United in the summer should he wish to and it ‘doesn’t make sense’ to discuss the possibility of a contract renewal now.
Ralf Rangnick said: “I spoke with him yesterday and the day before yesterday. So I don’t know anything about [Rashford considering his future]. In my 25 years in professional football, I have decided not to take too much notice of things happening in the media. He didn’t say anything to me, he said to me that he is still happy and that he wants to perform on a high level for the club. There was no mention of him not being happy here. No, because we have quite a few other players whose contracts are expiring in the summer. For me, this is not a worry at all. My worry and concern or what I’m trying to achieve with him is what we did with, for example Anthony [Elanga], with Jadon, with one or two other young players that we have, to improve his performance and make sure that he gets the best version of himself. I don’t think that he’s not had enough game-time. He’s had 13-14 games since I’ve been here now, he played more games from the start than he didn’t play from the start. I don’t think this is an issue and he never said anything about that since we spoke yesterday. But again, the window is closed right now. Even in case, suppose he and his agents or his family at one stage of the summer think about maybe going to another club, well then he can do that – but in the summer. Now the window is closed. It’s got nothing to do with tomorrow’s game or the game on Tuesday. We should just finish this season as well as we possibly can and then there is enough time in the summer to speak about that,” Rangnick said, referring to a possible contract renewal. “Right now, nobody knows who will be the manager, how the club will be lined up in the hierarchy. I understand why you’re asking the question, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t make sense to put any energy into that. I can only repeat myself – I like Marcus as a player. I’ve had a few in the past in former clubs where they had problems at one stage but it’s our job to help him, to get the best Marcus Rashford that he can be. This is my job right now and I’m putting all my energy and time into that to achieve that.”
