Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took an early opportunity to address the “elephant in the room” when conducting a press conference alongside Marcus Rashford ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Atalanta.
The Norwegian raised eyebrows by suggesting his forward needs to “prioritise” and “focus on football” days after the 23-year-old was awarded an honorary degree from Manchester University in recognition of his fight against child poverty over the last 18 months or so.
In turn, Solskjaer’s comments led to reports claiming Rashford and his camp were unhappy with the United boss.
However, speaking ahead of his side’s return to European duty at home to the Serie A side, Solskjaer moved to praise the England international for his work off the pitch and clear up any confusion.
“Just to get the elephant out of the room straight away with the headlines that came out from the chat I had before the last game,” he said.
“We are so unbelievably proud of what Marcus has done off the pitch.
“You [journalists] know what was said and you made headlines out of one little comment that I never intended to be the focus.
“I was speaking about Marcus going into training not feeling his shoulder or his back and now he can just enjoy his football. I just wanted to start with that one.”
Rashford made his first appearance since missing a penalty in England’s Euro 2020 final loss to Italy at Wembley, scoring a thunderous 82nd-minute equaliser away at Leicester City before United fell to a 4-2 defeat in the dying embers of the game.
Available for selection once again, it will be interesting to see how he fits into a frontline already boasting the talents of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood.
