Rooney has 'no sympathy' for under-fire Rashford - 'Not a leader!'

Manchester United record goalscorer Wayne Rooney has delivered a stunning wakeup call to Marcus Rashford, stating that he has no sympathy for the forward, that he is not a leader, and that his body language on the field is not good.

Rooney, who played alongside Rashford during his Old Trafford days, was speaking in his capacity as TNT Sports pundit on Saturday ahead of the Premier League meeting between two of his former clubs, United and Everton.

Rashford, 26, has been under severe scrutiny this season for his lack of goalscoring output as well as off-field issues which have earned a rebuke from manager Erik ten Hag.

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An ill-advised night out in Belfast in January led to Rashford being suspended from first-team duties although he has since come back into the XI.

Rooney, who scored 253 goals for the Red Devils over 559 matches, urged his former team-mate to find more consistency in his game and step up to the plate as one of the club’s senior squad members.

Asked whether he had any sympathy for the pressure exerted on Rashford, Rooney was blunt.

Rooney has no sympathy for Rashford

“Not much to be honest,” the former England captain said. “He’s in a privileged position where he’s playing for Manchester United.

“I’ve said before, he’s the one player I really believed could go and get my goalscoring record, and I hope he does because he’s a Manchester lad, but he needs to hit some consistency.

“Of course, he’s not having the best of seasons but he needs to find some form and consistency and become a leader of this team."

Rashford not a leader, says Rooney

Rashford has scored only eight Premier League goals this term and has been frequently criticised for his performances.

He has been linked with the Man Utd exit come the end of the season with Paris Saint-Germain reported to be among his suitors.

“I don’t think Marcus is that type of player, I don’t think he’s a leader and sometimes his body language doesn’t look the best from that point of view,” Rooney said.

“For me I look at the likes of Casemiro, [Raphael] Varane, Bruno [Fernandes] as captain. They’re players who should be getting that out of Marcus because sometimes you need your team-mates to get more out of you as well.”