Marcus Rashford and Roy Keane won’t like Man Utd ‘plan’ devised by club chiefs

Manchester United chiefs are reportedly planning to persist with Marcus Rashford as a central striker at various points throughout the season. The proposal is unlikely to go down well with club legend Roy Keane, or indeed Rashford himself, based on comments that the pair have made over the past few weeks.

Debate over Rashford’s best position was effectively settled once and for all when he bagged 30 goals in all competitions from the left wing last season. Still, the make-up of Erik ten Hag’s squad has seen him start the 25-year-old as a central striker for the first two games of the current campaign.

That is set to change when £72million signing Rasmus Hojlund recovers from a back injury. The former Atalanta man is an out-and-out frontman, but the Manchester Evening News claim that senior figures at Old Trafford hope to see him ‘sit out’ certain games so that Rashford can return up front.

Keane was critical of the England international’s body language last weekend, when he once again drew a blank in a concerning 2-0 defeat to Tottenham.

“Rashford played through the middle again – usual stuff,” Keane told Sky Sports. “He’s like a child up there. He’s obviously not happy playing through the middle and his body language, his first few touches in the game, suggested ‘I don’t want to play through the middle.’ But you have to – you’ve got to do a job for the team.”

While answering a series of quickfire questions from another United legend, Gary Neville, Rashford admitted that playing up top can get on his nerves due to the difficulty of being regularly involved in play.

“You might not be in the game for god knows how long, but when it’s time to make a save then you have to make it. I never enjoyed that aspect of it [playing centre forward] but as I’ve got older I’m starting to enjoy it a little bit more.”

It remains to be seen whether Ten Hag will mix things up against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Hojlund will not recover in time for the match, although Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho both represent alternative options to play through the middle.