Rio urges £353k-a-week duo to follow in McTominay’s footsteps and start ‘enjoying life’ away from Old Trafford



Rio Ferdinand has encouraged two Manchester United stars to cast aside their ties to the club and embark on new ventures away from Old Trafford.

Unsurprisingly, the Red Devils duo in question is Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford, both of whom are classed as academy graduates; the latter has spent his whole footballing career with United, while the former joined in a £420,000 deal from Atletico Madrid in 2020.

Rashford has been essentially shunned by Ruben Amorim for nine successive matches, with his last outing coming on December 12 in a Europa League clash. He was, however, spotted training with the squad in relatively high spirits this afternoon, prompting speculation as to whether he’ll make his return to the fold tomorrow evening.

He remains linked with numerous European outfits leading up to the transfer deadline and is said to be favouring a move to Barcelona, who have to free up space on the wage bill through player exits before potentially sanctioning Rashford’s arrival.

As for his Argentine counterpart, Garnacho is edging closer to a United exit with each passing day of the transfer window. Club officials have been locked in negotiations with Napoli for around a week after rejecting their initial £40 million bid to try and reach an agreement that suits all parties.

Ferdinand: Garnacho and Rashford are better off elsewhere – for their own sakes

Garnacho and Rashford take orders from Amorim on the touchline. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Weighing in on the wantaway Reds’ situations, Ferdinand told the talkSPORT panel (via the Mirror): “[Jadon] Sancho looks a different person – not even a (different) player – a different person at Chelsea. And Garnacho, I think some of the players, that’s why I think with Rashford, I think if I’m sitting there and I’m advising now, just go.

“Because you need to actually go and look at, [Scott] McTominay should be your person, you go, that is what I want to follow. He looks like he’s enjoying his life. He’s enjoying football again. Marcus Rashford’s face doesn’t forget everything else. His face on a football pitch hasn’t enjoyed football for probably three years. It looks like.

“So I want to see these kids smiling. I love the young kids coming through and playing well. Garnacho’s probably sitting there thinking, ‘This is Man United, I don’t want to leave it, it’s hard to leave that badge. But I might start enjoying myself a bit more.’”