Gary Lineker has heaped praise on Marcus Rashford after his magnificent display for Barcelona against Newcastle, labelling the forward an ‘immense talent’.
Rashford announced he was keen for a fresh challenge away from Manchester United midway through last season and completed a temporary move to Barca – following an impressive loan spell at Aston Villa – towards the end of the summer transfer window.
Once the star man at Old Trafford and a poster boy for United’s academy, Rashford had fallen out of favour in the first-team, with Ruben Amorim publicly questioning the attacker’s work ethic and professionalism on the training ground.
But Rashford has shown glimpses of his undoubted quality in his early showings for Barca and produced undoubtedly his finest performance yet as the Spanish champions overcame Newcastle in their Champions League group-stage opener.
Given the nod from the start by Hansi Flick, Rashford repaid his manager’s faith, and then some, by firing home a superb second-half double to give the Catalan giants a two-goal advantage at St James’ Park.
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While Anthony Gordon halved the deficit in the closing stages of the clash, the visitors held firm to come away with maximum points – and Rashford earned plenty of plaudits for his contribution in the north east.
The England international followed this up with a pinpoint assist for Dani Olmo in Barca’s 3-0 victory over Getafe last weekend, though subsequent reports claimed he was left out of Flick’s starting line-up after arriving late for training in the build-up.
‘He was left out, they brought him on at half-time and he got an assist,’ ex-Barcelona and England striker Lineker said of Rashford’s latest performance on The Rest Is Football podcast.
‘He nearly scored with a couple of good efforts as well, but the first goal from Ferran Torres… wow. That move was classic Barcelona.’
Lineker highlighted how Rashford was by no means not the only player to enjoy a resurgence after leaving Manchester United for pastures new in recent times.
‘Of course [he’s still got it]. He’s an immense talent, Marcus,’ he added.
‘He’s had some dips in his career, like most of us do, and he’s been at a club that has had huge problems at Manchester United.
‘It seems that most of the players that have left there have done particularly well subsequently.’
Lineker’s glowing praise for Rashford came after Paul Scholes launched a scathing attack on the forward, in which he branded the player a ‘disgrace’ over his ‘attitude’ at both United and Barca.
‘I really struggle to feel happy for Marcus Rashford,’ the legendary former United and England midfielder said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
‘Mainly because of his attitude. His attitude towards Man United towards the end was disgraceful.
‘The amount of times I saw him walking because he wanted to leave… His whole demeanour about him was a disgrace.
‘I think he quit on Man Utd. When you quit once, you’ll quit again. He was late last night [for Barcelona].
‘He wont get away with that for long at Barca. There’s absolutely no chance.
‘How can you sleep in these days? Your phone, f*****g alarm, whatever. How can you sleep in?
‘He’s definitely got the talent to be [one of the best players in the world]. But he’ll never have the mentality.’
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