Marcus Rashford has been accused of holding back Mason Greenwood’s progress at Manchester United.
Having emerged as one of United’s breakout stars over the last couple of years, Greenwood had looked to be establishing himself as vital presence for United, particularly at the end of last season with eight goals in his final 14 games of the campaign.
After scoring in each of his first three games of the season, the 20-year-old has gone through a leaner spell since with just two more goals in 14 appearances.
Added competition, with the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho, has made things tougher for Greenwood, who has had to settle for places on the bench in Ralf Rangnick’s first two league games in charge, while Rashford has been given the nod to start against Crystal Palace and Norwich City.
Former United defender Paul Parker, though, believes Greenwood should be starting ahead of his team-mate, and feels his development is being hindered.
"He's (Rashford) holding back Mason Greenwood,” Parker told bettingexpert.
“I think Greenwood needs a run in that team. He's a young boy, and there are stories about him leaving. That might be drummed up by his agent.
“I still believe that when you have good young players, they need to play. Because otherwise they will lose their confidence.
“They will look at what they have been doing, they will be looking at what people are doing in front of them and ask themselves questions.
“When they start doing that, it's negative and they'll end up going backwards. You have to be careful of that with Greenwood.
“He needs not just to be coming on, he needs to start games and he needs someone to believe in him and play him regularly until the manager can see a bit of fatigue.”
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