Gary Lineker has claimed that Marcus Rashford would not face the same criticism that has dogged the Manchester United star throughout his career if he was a white player.
Rashford broke into the United first team as a prodigious teenage talent just under a decade ago, and has since made a titanic 426 appearances for the Red Devils.
But the last two years have seen Rashford undergo an uneven spell of form, where the player has shown flashes of brilliance but fail to string together a prolonged purple patch.
Against the backdrop of up-and-down performances, Rashford has come under scrutiny from both fans and pundits for incidents where the player has been seen to have shifted his focus from football – even if temporarily.
During the 2023-24 season – on the heels of an impressive 2022-23 campaign which saw him named his club’s Players’ Player of the Season – the then-26-year-old reportedly went on a 12-hour night-out in Belfast, and was subsequently absent from training.
At the end of the night, a waitress who claims she was with the player’s party alleged that he had passed out in bed fully clothed at 3am after downing shots of tequila.
Rashford landed in Manchester the following day at 8am, but called in sick for training, later sitting down for talks on the matter with former manager Erik ten Hag and then-football director John Murtough.
Rashford had previously been openly criticised by Ten Hag for celebrating his 26th birthday following defeat to Manchester City in the derby that October.
Man United legend Gary Neville was among those to question Rashford’s professionalism last season, noting that the star had opted to fly to New York to take in an NBA game at Madison Square Garden after being left out of interim manager Lee Carsley’s England squad – rather than staying behind to prepare for the arrival of incoming United manager Ruben Amorim.
Rashford has also been covered extensively in the media for his fashion choices, with the England international often sporting eye-catching pieces such as his luxury Patek Philippe Aquanaut watch worth £295,895.
Although Rashford is not alone in Premier League stars favouring expensive high fashion, Lineker suggested that Rashford was subject to a different kind of scrutiny than his peers in part due to his high profile – and the visible role he took up as a campaigner against food poverty, which won him an MBE – and in part due to his race.
‘Do you think sometimes you get unfairly criticised because of who you are and what you’ve done, not necessarily on the pitch?’ Lineker asked the Barcelona loanee on his The Rest Is Football podcast. ‘You know I am a massive supporter of what you did, I think everyone is, you shifted government policy and all that sort of thing. It was remarkable.
‘Always my fear was, the minute he has a bad spell, they’ll blame that. Obviously I’m saying that that because I feel it a little bit, but I think sometimes the criticism of you… he might go on a night out, he might go out in a certain outfit, and that will be criticised.
‘I don’t think that would be criticised if that was a white player.’
Rashford replied: ‘I honestly think it’s not because people don’t want to highlight it, I think people just don’t care anymore.’
Co-host Micah Richards added: ‘I just don’t think you can change those people’s opinions anyway. It’s more about going forward and changing the opinions of the youth’.
As Rashford agreed with his statement, the former Man City man continued: ‘I suffered it when I was coming through, people always say what they want to say.’
Lineker added that he believed that Rashford’s loan spell in Barcelona would provide a break from frequent media coverage, saying: ‘You’ll notice it’s different here (in Spain).
‘In terms of football, they will be incredibly critical if you’re not performing on the pitch. They won’t bother about your life off the pitch. They will respect your life off the pitch. I’m talking particularly in terms of the media.’
Rashford has previously spoken about the impact of heavy criticism and social media from fans, sharing an emotional statement in April 2024 that revealed he had suffered ‘months and months of abuse’.
Throughout his turbulent last seasons at Man United however, Rashford was unhappy with the idea that his commitment to the club would be doubted, comparing his time playing for his boyhood side to ‘his entire identity’.
‘I grew up here,’ Rashford shared in an article written for the Players’ Tribune at the start of last year. ‘I have played for this club since I was a boy. My family turned down life-changing money when I was a kid so I could wear this badge.’
Amid a rocky early relationship with Amorim, Rashford took the decision in January to consider a previously unbelievable future away from Old Trafford, moving to Aston Villa on loan for the second-half of last season.
The change of scenery paid dividends for the 28-year-old, who went on to score four goals and register a further six assists in his 17 appearances under head coach Unai Emery.
With a return under Amorim ahead of the new season unlikely despite a resurgence on the pitch, Rashford instead plumped for a move to his first-choice loan side Barcelona.
Since joining the Catalan giants, the forward has enjoyed a profitable pre-season, netting his first goal for his new side during their win against Daegu FC in South Korea, and providing an assist for Raphina during the Blaugrana’s victory against Como.
