Harry Maguire wants Marcus Rashford back at Manchester United and says the forward should return happy and confident if the move suits both sides. Paul Scholes has gone the other way, saying Rashford should be banished from the dressing room. Rashford is set to return to Old Trafford later this summer after 18 months in exile away from United, and the timing gives the club a familiar kind of internal argument.
Maguire's case for a return
Maguire was clear that any comeback has to work for both player and club. “It needs to be right for himself, it needs to be right for the club,” he said, adding that United would want Rashford to come back “and play and be happy and confident.” He also described Rashford as a “wonderful player” and said everyone knows what he can do.
That support is not soft focus. It is a senior United player saying the door should stay open if the conditions are right. For a club already weighing how to handle a player who has spent 18 months away, that matters more than the usual polite backing line.
Rashford’s Barcelona loan adds a bit of weight to the discussion. He finished that spell with 14 goals and 14 assists across all competitions, while the curated data shows 4 appearances in the season sample and a 6.59 average rating during the spell covered. Those are not the numbers of a player drifting into the background.
Scholes' warning around the dressing room
Scholes was much harsher. He said Rashford had “let a lot of people down” and argued that, if young players are seeing that behaviour as an example, “the sooner he's gone the better.” His line that Rashford “should be banished from the dressing room really” is about standards as much as selection.
That criticism has a limit, though. It speaks to conduct and influence, not to whether the footballing case exists. Rashford is still being spoken about as a player United could bring back later this summer, not as a completed departure, and Maguire's position shows there is still support for a reunion inside the club.
United's own league numbers sit behind the story as well. They are third with 71 points, which makes any summer reintegration decision a serious one rather than a salvage job. Rashford's return would land in a squad that has just put together a recent league run of WWDWW and does not need upheaval for its own sake.
The split is real, and Scholes' view will not disappear just because Maguire said the right things. But the football case is still there, and the fact Rashford is due back later this summer after 18 months away means United will have to decide whether that comeback is workable, not just welcome.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
