Former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy has revealed his relationship with Marcus Rashford, admitting that he was often the person to deliver hard facts to the forward.

The ex-first team coach left Old Trafford in June after spending two years working with Erik ten Hag’s side. He recently opened up on his views of the under-fire boss, confessing that the Dutchman lacks the ‘passion’ to manage a team like the Red Devils.

He’s now taken the time to deliver an analysis of academy graduate Rashford, who has endured a tough few seasons in Manchester.

“Rashford is special – he’s a special human being,” he told SuperSport Unplugged. “He’s pure-hearted and he’s Man Utd through and through.

“He was ‘Marcus’ [as opposed to ‘Rashy’] to me. I’m straight to the point and I think he respected that instead of me sweet-talking him for other reasons. I was just a straight shooter and I think he probably didn’t have enough people in his life who are straight with him because everyone tells him what he wants to hear because of who he is.

“I was just normal and I think he appreciated that so any kind of advice he would come to me – advice on anything. We still message each other.”

Rashford has enjoyed a positive start to the 2024/25 campaign, netting four goals in 11 appearances – just four fewer than the eight he managed throughout the whole of last season.

United will return to action with a trip to Brentford on 19 October.

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