Manchester United Star Pulls Out Of England Squad Ahead Of Albania Clash

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford withdrew from the England squad ahead of their two World Cup qualifiers, the Premier League club announced Tuesday.

"Marcus Rashford will remain with Manchester United in order to concentrate on regaining full fitness as England face their final two World Cup qualifiers," Man Utd said in an official release.

Gareth Southgate’s England are set to take on Albania and San Marino in a home and away fixture respectively.

Manchester United, who have had a nightmare couple of weeks, losing to arch-rivals Liverpool FC and Manchester City at Old Trafford in the Premier League, are next in action on Nov. 20. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will travel to Watford for an away league game. With 17 points, the Red Devils are currently placed sixth in the 2021-22 Premier League table.

Rashford missed the beginning of the season due to rehabilitation from shoulder surgery in the summer. He made a successful comeback for Solskjaer’s side last month, scoring in the first game on his return. He came off the bench to score in his side’s 4-2 loss to Leicester City in the league. The young forward also netted a goal in Manchester United’s victories against Atalanta and Tottenham.

Following that, the 24-year-old Rashford recovered in time from an illness to be on the bench for the derby game at Old Trafford. He replaced Mason Greenwood in the second half but could not rescue his side that lost 2-0 to Pep Guardiola’s City.

Rashford, who is yet to play for full 90 minutes for Manchester United this season, is yet to regain full fitness and is aiming to build up his game-time for the Red Devils.

Apart from Rashford, the only other Manchester United player who was picked by Southgate for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers was captain Harry Maguire. While Greenwood has asked Southgate to not pick him until next year, the duo of Jesse Lingard and Jadon Sancho was ignored, citing lack of match time with Manchester United.

Meanwhile, adding to Solskjaer’s woes, Paul Pogba suffered a thigh injury while training with France Monday. He is set to miss France’s World Cup qualifiers fixtures against Kazakhstan and Finland. The other injured Red Devils players are Luke Shaw and Raphael Varane.