Paul Ince's Warning on Rashford's Future at United
Manchester United are ready to draw a line under Marcus Rashford. Paul Ince is adamant they are about to make a mistake.
The club have been working to move the winger on this summer after his loan spell at Barcelona came to an end. Barça, impressed but unconvinced enough to commit, turned down the chance to keep him and instead pushed their money towards Anthony Gordon.
For Rashford, it felt like the door slammed twice.
Ince, though, sees an opening at Old Trafford rather than a dead end. The former United midfielder believes the forward’s career can still be rebuilt where it all began – and that Michael Carrick is the man to do it.
“I just think Michael Carrick can get the best out of him, I really, really do,” Ince told Oddschecker. He painted a simple picture: a manager’s arm around a player’s shoulder, a bit of faith, and the return of the electric talent that once lit up the Stretford End. “If you just put your arm around Rashford then you’re going to see a very, very good player… if he’s happy, he will perform for you.”
That is the crux of Ince’s argument. Not tactics. Not systems. Man-management.
Carrick has already shown he can steady a listing ship. Last season he guided United to third place in the Premier League, restoring a measure of authority and, crucially, Champions League football. The dressing room, by all accounts, responds to his calm, clear leadership.
Ince is convinced that same approach can unlock Rashford again.
The 26-year-old did plenty to repair his reputation in Spain. At Barcelona he scored regularly, drifted from flank to flank, and looked liberated, a different player to the one who had laboured through his final months in Manchester. Those who watched closely saw a forward enjoying his football again, stretching defences, carrying a threat from both the left and the right.
“I feel for Rashford, I really do, because I think he’s a fantastic player,” Ince said, underlining the sense of sympathy. He talked up Rashford’s versatility, his ability to play off either wing, and pointed to last season’s form in La Liga as evidence that the spark is still there. The World Cup, too, remains a reference point – those flashes of individual brilliance that reminded everyone of his ceiling.
Then came the twist. Just when it seemed Barcelona might turn the loan into a permanent move, they pivoted to Gordon. For Rashford, Ince believes, that decision “kills” him: the promise of a new chapter in Spain abruptly replaced by another round of uncertainty.
Now his future hangs in the balance again.
United are weighing up their options in the transfer window, open to offers yet sitting on an asset whose value has always fluctuated with his confidence. Sell now and they cut ties with a homegrown talent who has already shown he can be one of Europe’s most dangerous forwards on his day. Keep him and they hand Carrick a reclamation project with potentially huge upside.
Ince is clear which path he would choose. He sees a “very, very talented player” who simply needs the right environment, the right voice, and a bit of belief to resurface. For him, Carrick provides exactly that combination.
The calendar adds its own pressure. United open their 2026-27 Premier League campaign on August 22 against newly-promoted Hull City. It is the kind of fixture that, in another time, would have felt tailor-made for Rashford: a fresh season, a newly promoted opponent, space to attack on the break.
If he is still at Old Trafford by then, Carrick may yet decide to roll the dice on a player who once embodied the club’s modern identity.
If he is not, United must live with the answer to a simple question: did they give Marcus Rashford one chance too many, or one chance too few?
