Maguire backs Rashford return as Scholes' 'banish' verdict divides United dressing room

Harry Maguire has thrown his support behind Marcus Rashford’s expected return to Manchester United this summer, placing himself at odds with club legend Paul Scholes, who previously demanded Rashford be removed from the dressing room entirely.

Rashford, 28, is set to come back to Old Trafford after a loan stint at Barcelona, where he contributed 14 goals and 14 assists across all competitions as the Catalan club won La Liga. Despite widespread expectation that Barcelona would make the deal permanent, they instead spent £70 million to sign Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon, leaving Rashford’s future unresolved.

Maguire, speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, was direct in his support. “Yeah, of course, I have an amazing relationship with Marcus and have had some great times with him over the years. I know what a wonderful player he can be,” the United centre-back said. “If Marcus does come back, we want him to come back and play and be happy and confident. It needs to be right for himself, it needs to be right for the club, but everyone knows what a great player Marcus can be.”

The defender’s stance contrasts sharply with that of Scholes, who was scathing in his assessment of Rashford’s conduct before the loan move. “I think Marcus has let a lot of people down really, with his attitude,” Scholes told The Overlap Fan Debate. “The fact of letting your team-mates down in that dressing room — he should be banished from the dressing room really. If he’s in and around that and young people are seeing that as an example, the sooner he’s gone the better.”

Rashford’s departure from United was acrimonious. Former manager Ruben Amorim sidelined him after the forward publicly declared he was “ready for a new challenge” elsewhere — comments that reportedly angered several United players, particularly given the timing so close to the club’s derby victory over Manchester City.

Rashford also had a brief loan spell at Aston Villa before joining Barcelona, and will now return to a club under new permanent head coach Michael Carrick. Whether Carrick opts to reintegrate him into the first team remains to be seen, but Maguire’s public endorsement suggests the dressing room is not uniformly opposed to his comeback.