Rooney urges Rashford to seize 'second chance' and break his 253-goal Man Utd record

Wayne Rooney has called on Marcus Rashford to embrace a fresh start at Manchester United this summer and insists the forward has the ability to break his all-time club goalscoring record of 253 — provided he knuckles down under new manager Michael Carrick.

Rashford returns to Old Trafford after loan spells at Aston Villa and Barcelona, the latter declining their option to sign him permanently. That decision leaves the 27-year-old attempting to rebuild a United career that has stalled since his last appearance for the club 18 months ago. He currently stands 15th on United’s all-time scoring list with 138 goals.

“He’s the one player who can go and get my goalscoring record,” Rooney said on the Rest is United podcast. “But that means he just needs to get his head down, work his socks off and be more positive, play with a smile on his face.”

Rooney was specific about what needs to change technically, pointing to Rashford’s tendency to slow down and pass backwards when in one-on-one situations with full-backs. “When you get the ball and you’ve got a full-back one-v-one, touch, knock it past them and run,” he said. “You don’t have to do stepovers, you don’t have to slow it down — the best thing the defender can do is put a slide tackle in because it’s very rare that one of the full-backs is as quick as you.”

Despite continued speculation linking Rashford with a permanent exit, Rooney was emphatic that staying at United is the only logical choice. “He’s got a manager who he’s played with, he knows, he respects. He’s from Manchester, he’s a Man Utd fan,” he said. “It is crazy that he would want to go anywhere else. Absolutely crazy.”

Rooney acknowledged that Rashford’s difficulties have involved factors beyond his control, but argued the forward has run out of excuses. “Whatever has happened before with previous managers, the club, whatever, he has to just say, ‘I’m a very lucky lad, I’ve got the opportunity to still be here at Man Utd and actually start again.’ It’s on him, nobody else. He’s got nobody left to blame.”

With 115 goals still needed to overhaul Rooney’s record, the challenge is steep — but Rooney’s message was clear: the talent has never been in doubt, only the application.