Marcus Rashford has received a warning from Gary Neville that if he keeps showing up in nightclubs at inconvenient times, people may start to perceive him differently.
Rashford was photographed at Chinawhite Nightclub a few hours after United’s October loss to Manchester City, and he was sighted at another Belfast hotspot last week.
The players had a day off on Thursday, according to United, who have been informed that the images of Rashford in a nightclub were from Wednesday night.
Rashford was then ruled out of the team to play Newport County on Friday owing to sickness and missing training.
The player will be available for selection against Wolves, according to Erik ten Hag, who defined the situation as an “internal matter.” The club acknowledged that the matter has been closed.
When Neville appeared on BBC Breakfast, he was asked what he felt about the issue.
“Well, that happened quite a bit [players going out] when I was at the club where there were many of us, 20 odd, in a dressing room, young men,” Neville said.
“For me, going out for a drink or a night out is something every football player should and will do, so I’ve got absolutely no problem with that. They need to enjoy themselves.
“Then they had a game against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup after that and I just said ‘Look, choose your time’. United had just had a winter break and a few weeks off, so that was a better moment for him to go out.
“Your timing has to be right. He [Sir Alex Ferguson] would have given him a dressing down, but he would have said similar things, make sure you do it at the right moments, nobody ever says to a football player you can’t go out.
“But when you have a game three days later and Marcus knows himself, he’s an experienced player now and he’s done this a few times. I’ve always seen him as being really responsible, professional and someone who works hard every day. He’s going through a dip in form right now, but this has happened once or twice and it can become your personality if you’re not careful.
“If you do it too many times, people wonder what is going on in your life, so he just needs to relax, calm down, choose when to go out and get back to playing football at the levels he can.”
