Wayne Rooney reveals biggest thing Marcus Rashford must do to get back to best at Man Utd and even break his record

WAYNE ROONEY has revealed what Marcus Rashford must do to succeed in his “second chance” at Manchester United. The 28-year-old returned to United this summer following a consecutive loan spells with Aston Villa and Barcelona. Wayne Rooney has given Marcus Rashford advice on how to find form again at United Credit: YouTube / The Overlap Rashford made his first United appearance in 20 months at the weekend Credit: Reuters Despite being heavily linked with a permanent move ahead of the 2026/27 campaign, Rashford has been training with the Red Devils and made his first Man Utd appearance in 20 months at the weekend. Rashford played 29 minutes in a 4-2 defeat to AC Milan – the team now managed by ex-United boss Ruben Amorim – but struggled to get into the game. Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! Club legend Rooney has now urged him to improve his body language so that he can get the fans excited again. Speaking on the first episode of Stick to United – a podcast-style show that has been created as part of The Overlap’s new merger with The United Stand and partnership with Disney+ – he explained: “It’s such a strange one with Marcus because we know he’s got the ability, he’s shown that. “For me, has he got the hunger? Does he want to play for Man Utd? “If he wants to play for Man Utd, the first thing he has to do… I’ve been there in 2010 when I asked to leave the football club, there’s a stage where you have to rebuild. “You have to build a relationship with the fans and the easiest way to do that is to work hard and body language. “It’s the easiest way to do that because you could have a bad game, you could give the ball away, you could make mistakes, but if the fans see you working hard and putting a shift in for the team they’ll accept that to a certain point. Most read in Sport CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Rooney suggested that Rashford must improve his body language Credit: YouTube / The Overlap “Marcus’ body language, even when he came on, his body language wasn’t great. “So it might be something he has to work on. He might have to work with someone to make his body language look better.” Rooney argued that if Rashford were to find form again at Old Trafford, he could go on to break his 253-goal record and become Man Utd’s all-time top scorer. The England international’s current total stands at 138 – but Rooney insists he is the only player that could achieve the feat. He added: “I think his work rate has to improve. But if he wants to be at the football club, he just needs to knuckle down. “He’s a young lad, he’s from Manchester… He’s the one player who can go and get my goalscoring record. “I don’t want want to see Marcus Rashford doing well at Aston Villa or doing well at Barcelona, I want to see him doing well at Man Utd and scoring goals for Man Utd. “But that means he just needs to get his head down, work his socks off and be more positive, play with a smile on his face. “When he gets the ball – it happened a few times the other day where he gets the ball and stands the defenders up and just knocks it back inside. “This is what I said to him a couple of years ago – when you get the ball and you’ve got a full-back one-v-one, touch, knock it past them and run. “You don’t have to do stepovers, you don’t have to slow it down because the best thing the defender can do is put a slide tackle in because it’s very rare that one of the full-backs is as quick as you. You might get a corner or throw-in, you might get a free kick in a dangerous area, you might win a penalty. “Be positive, it gets the crowd up, it gets the fans singing, they’re behind you. “And that’s what the fans want to see – entertaining players, being positive.” Rooney also suggested that Rashford should be more like Bruno Fernandes in the way he conducts himself on the pitch and the passion he shows. The former forward continued: “How many times does Bruno give the ball away? But the fans love it because – and Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] was the same – because he tries to play killer passes. “Every now and then, you get that killer pass right and it’s an unbelievable assist. This is what you want with these attacking players. “That’s what I want to see from him. But it’s on him. The club legend even believes that Rashford can break his United goalscoring record Credit: Getty The England star currently has 138 United goals Credit: Getty “If he’s back playing for Man Utd and he wants to be here, he has to have a close look at who’s around him. “Only he can say who those people are that he really trusts. “Go into training, work hard, get himself right – if he does that, he’ll be fine. “He really needs to work on his body language… “Bruno Fernandes… I know he throws his arms up but he’s got a body language where it shows he cares. He’s got some character about him. “When you’re on the football pitch and it’s not going well for you, and you look numb and you look like you don’t want to be here, that’s a problem. “So if Marcus Rashford is going to be here this season, the biggest thing for me is that he has to change his body language, whether he likes it or not, to make sure he gets the fans back with him.” Rashford has been linked with several clubs across the Premier League and Europe this summer, including the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Bayern Munich. But Rooney argued that he would be “crazy” to want to move anywhere else currently. “He’s got a manager who he’s played with, he knows, he respects,” Rooney added. “He’s from Manchester, he’s a Man Utd fan. “He’s got the opportunity to restart his Man Utd career. It is crazy that he would want to go anywhere else. Absolutely crazy. “He’s not that far away from my goalscoring record, so whatever has happened before with previous managers, the club, whatever, he has to just say, ‘I’m a very lucky lad, I’ve got the opportunity to still be here at Man Utd and actually start again.’ “It’s on him, nobody else. He’s got nobody left to blame. He has to take responsibility because if not, the fans will turn on him very quick.” Asked by presenter Mark Goldbridge if he believes Rashford will succeed again at Old Trafford, Rooney admitted that he was hopeful, but not entirely convinced. Man Utd kick off their new Premier League campaign against Hull City on Saturday. Play Dream Team this season! £100,000 in prize money up for grabs in 2026/27 Free to enter Play in Mini Leagues against your mates £60,000 jackpot for the overall winner £1,000 prize for winning Gameweek 1 PLAY DREAM TEAM NOW! Comment now