Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera has backed his ex-teammate Marcus Rashford.
Herrera played with the Englishman throughout his time at Manchester United before departing for Paris Saint-Germain in 2019. At this time, Rashford had already become an established first-team player and was an exciting prospect at Old Trafford, especially being an academy graduate at the club.
The 24-year-old has faced criticism in the past for struggling to maintain form and fitness. He has gone through phases of offering exceptional performances and racking up goal contributions, to periods of goal droughts and injuries.
When talking to ESPN, Herrera praised his former teammate and insisted that comparisons are not helpful for players.
Herrera, who is currently on loan at Athletic Bilbao, said: “He [Rashford] makes a difference when he’s fit and in a good moment, and he now has the best teacher in the team with the best example with Cristiano.
“But sometimes, we are not fair with some players. We are not fair with Marcus or I could give you more examples, or with Vinicius, or with these kind of players. You cannot compare them to [Lionel] Messi or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, because it’s like if the Spanish midfielders, we are compared with Xavi or [Andres] Iniesta. We are going to lose, of course. You have to judge them individually.”
"We are not fair with Rashford. You cannot compare him with Messi and Cristiano." 🤔
Ander Herrera says Marcus Rashford can be a great player in his own right 🗣 pic.twitter.com/L3j1oMVnlz
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) October 14, 2022
Footage courtesy of ESPN
