United staff ‘concerned Rashford’s lifestyle is impacting his form’

Manchester United’s coaching staff are reportedly worried Marcus Rashford’s form is being negatively impacted by his lifestyle – after the forward went on a 12-hour tequila bender before calling in sick for training last week.

The 26-year-old was pictured in a Belfast nightclub on Thursday evening which was followed by the forward missing United’s 4-2 FA Cup win over Newport County on Sunday after Erik ten Hag said the forward was too ill to train on Friday.

A report in The Sun claimed Rashford collapsed fully clothed into bed at 3AM on Friday, hours before phoning in sick to United following an all-day drinking session.

A waitress who claims she was invited out by the England star on Thursday said at the end of the night Rashford was so drunk that he dropped wads of cash in front of her in his five-star hotel room, moments before she was forced to put him to bed after he passed out.

And, according to talkSPORT, there are concerns from coaches at United that Rashford – who has scored just four goals in 26 games in all competitions this season – is being impacted on the pitch by his lifestyle.

The report also claims those close to Rashford are worried he is in ‘complete self destruct mode’, while they have similar concerns that some of the forward’s inner circle have too strong an influence over him.

Rashford reported for United training on Monday to hold crunch talks with Ten Hag and director of football John Murtough over his recent conduct, with the club highlighting the forward ‘has taken responsibility for his actions’ which have been ‘dealt with internally’. 

Speaking to The Sun, the aforementioned waitress Sarah Adair claimed Rashford, who is paid £325,000-a-week, invited her on the ‘weird’ night out in Belfast in which she said he was ‘clearly on a mission to get drunk’.

The footballer, who was pictured having dinner with his childhood sweetheart fiance Lucia Loi in November months after they split, was also allegedly seen arguing with a French woman at a nightclub later.

Rashford’s behaviour is alleged to have angered his team-mates with one source saying: ‘They couldn’t believe that he would do that given the situation the club is in.’

The player appeared to have the world at his feet following the World Cup last year, but has not produced his best form this season and in October manager Erik Ten Hag criticised him for partying on his 26th birthday hours after losing to Manchester City in the derby.

The latest misdemeanour comes after Rashford was also dropped for United’s trip to Wolves in December 2022 after arriving late on the day of the game.

However, Rashford has been heavily praised for his other off-field work, including providing free school meals to vulnerable youngsters during the COVID pandemic, with the 26-year-old subsequently awarded an MBE.

The talkSPORT report claims that despite some people insisting this distracted him on the pitch, the free school meals campaign was in fact crucial in keeping his life structured.  

In relation to his Belfast trip, Rashford had arrived in the Northern Irish capital on Wednesday on a private jet from Manchester, before checking into the five-star Fitzwilliam Hotel and heading out to the Dirty Onion pub and Lavery’s bar, it’s claimed.

The next day, after visiting Larne FC – who his friend Ro-Shaun Williams had just signed for – the 26-year-old went to the Italian restaurant where mother-of-one Adair works.

The mother-of-one told the Sun she didn’t initially recognise the footballer, who reportedly signed a new £325,000-a-week contract with United last year, and only found out when her manager told her who he was.

The 30-year-old said Rashford was joined by two men and two women, one of whom was ‘French and very beautiful’, with the group ordering food and drinks.

She claimed that the footballer ordered sea bass but didn’t touch his food, instead focusing on shots of tequila and cocktails, before inviting her to join the group on their night out.

After she agreed to join him, Rashford asked Adair whether she knew any nightclubs that would remain open beyond 3am if he paid them enough money, which indicated to her that he wasn’t busy the next day.

‘That made it clear to me that he had already made his mind up that he wasn’t going to training on Friday. He had no plans to go home that night,’ she said.

Adair said she finished her shift at 5pm and returned to the city centre two hours later to meet Rashford, but was made to wait until 9.40pm before a Mercedes van collected her.

At this point she says she was asked to hand over her phone and told to not tell anyone other than her mum who she was going out with.

She said she was taken in a taxi to the Villa Italia restaurant to meet Rashford and his entourage where the United star had booked out the top floor and brought his own Bluetooth speaker to listen to his favourite rap music.

Adair stated that Rashford, who allegedly didn’t touch the bruschetta he ordered as he doesn’t like tomato with seeds in it, was drinking tequila with his friends and was ‘clearly on a mission to get drunk’.

Rashford was reportedly reminded by a friend that he had training the next day, but the England international was adamant that he wanted to stay out.

She said the group then headed on to the nightclub Thompson’s, where he was pictured by other revellers, before going to a private area The Attic for more drinks.

Here, Rashford is alleged to have argued with the French girl after being accused of kissing another woman, with Adair saying the furious woman said ‘he thinks he can do what he wants’.

A source close to Rashford told the Sun that he left the club at 1.15am, but Adair said the group stayed out until close to 2am before his security decided to take him back to his hotel. 

When they got back to the Fitzwilliam Hotel, where Rashford was staying in the £1,500-a-night residence suite, Adair claimed she had to put him to bed.

Adair said: ‘He was so drunk at this point that he picked up his own bag and dropped it and all this cash fell out. It was all £20 notes and big wads of it. I reckon there was between £8,000 and £10,000 cash.’

‘Then he falls back into the wall and I have to kind of scoop him up and on to the bed. He was fully dressed and I reckon he just passed out like that. He didn’t even get under the covers.’

She awoke at 9.30am on Friday to find out Rashford had left four-and-a-half hours earlier.

He landed back in Manchester at 8am, but did not train that day after phoning in sick. 

A source close to Rashford told the Sun that he had less than £1,000 in cash on him, adding: ‘Marcus accepts his standards have fallen well short of what is expected.’ 

After leaving Rashford out of his squad on Sunday, Erik ten Hag vowed to deal with the ‘internal matter’.

United released a statement on Monday evening confirming Rashford had taken responsibility for his actions and they now consider the matter closed.

It said: ‘Marcus has taken responsibility for his actions. This has been dealt with as an internal disciplinary matter, which is now closed.’ 

Mail Sport also reported on Monday that his teammates were not happy with his actions, which came ahead of the club’s match against Newport County in the FA Cup, which represents their only realistic chance of a trophy this season.

United return to action on Thursday when they travel to Molineux in the Premier League to take on Wolves, with Rashford expected to be in contention for selection.