Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho doesn’t trust Marcus Rashford
Manchester United’s transfer moves make it clear that Jose Mourinho doesn’t trust Marcus Rashford to lead his attack next season
If you look closely enough, you can see cracks already emerging in the relationship between Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho and his starlet Marcus Rashford. United fans don’t want to admit it, but Mourinho’s transfer moves make it clear he doesn’t trust the young centre forward.
The pursuit of Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the first signal that Mourinho wasn’t committed to Rashford being the main man at Old Trafford next season. That, in and of itself, wasn’t enough to convince me that there were real issues between Rashford and Mourinho though.
After all, Ibrahimovic is one of the most accomplished strikers in the world. He still has plenty of gas left in the tank and could potentially serve as a bridge to the prime of Rashford’s career. I didn’t love the move from the perspective of the English starlet, but I understand it from Mourinho’s point of view.
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The recent news that United are closing in on a deal for Swiss starlet Breel Imbolo tells a much different story. Purchasing a 19-year-old striker and providing him a rich contract isn’t something you do when you believe you already have your striker of the future at the club.
Chasing Imbolo shows that Mourinho clearly has significant doubts about Rashford’s ability to play a big role at United in both the short-term and long-term future of the club. He’s undeniably prioritized the purchase of insurance policies guarding against Rashford flopping early in his tenure at United.
The majority of Manchester United fans will credit Mourinho for “smartly guarding against every potential pitfall.” I’ll acknowledge that there’s some logic in this line of thinking. I might even be inclined to buy into this philosophy if we weren’t talking about Jose Mourinho.
His past makes it pretty clear that he has a very specific idea about what kind of players he wants in his squad. He doesn’t show a moment’s hesitation to replace an established player with a new purchase if he isn’t supremely confident in the incumbent. Objective fans can see there’s a significant possibility that’s already happening with Marcus Rashford.
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At the very least, it’s something that United fans need to watch closely over the coming months. If Mourinho goes in for yet another striker, then you can count on Rashford’s days being numbered at Old Trafford. Even if he goes into next season with the trio of Ibrahimovic, Embolo and Rashford, I feel the young English sensation may be the odd man out.