Micah Richards tells Marcus Rashford he's missing key trait 'all other players at the top of world football' possess as Barcelona star admits he felt like he was 'forcing it' at Man Utd

Once hailed as the future of United, Rashford’s career has been on a turbulent path. His electric 2022-23 season, where he racked up a career-best 30 goals, gave way to a frustrating slump. A dry spell in front of goal saw him score just seven times for United last term before a loan to Aston Villa offered some relief. Now, despite the strong start in pre-season friendlies with Barcelona, Richards believes Rashford’s tendency to pass rather than shoot is holding him back from scaling the very top. 

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Richards said directly to Rashford: "One criticism from me in your game is I feel like you can be more selfish. Because you're getting into great areas, then you always want to pass! All the other players [at the] top of world football are shooting."

Rashford accepted the feedback with a smile, but explained that he often puts chance creation ahead of individual glory. 

"Don't get me wrong, I love scoring goals and stuff, but this is why I can't consistently be a No. 9," he replied. "Because it's not natural for me to do that, so if I am doing that, I feel like I'm forcing it. And I know that I'm missing other pictures of the game.

"Like, if I was just playing freely, I'd be seeing these pictures, so there [are] a lot of times when I don't shoot because I feel like the chance of it being blocked and missing a chance for the team, rather than just for me, is pretty high. But also the striker in me is like, 'If I can get it through his legs here [laughs], there's a high chance of it going in!'"

While Rashford’s on-pitch chemistry with his new team-mates looks promising, his competitive debut is in jeopardy. Barcelona president Joan Laporta has warned there’s a possibility the Manchester United loanee won’t be registered in time for the La Liga opener against Mallorca on Saturday. 

Financial regulations and squad registration limits have once again placed the club under pressure. There is, however, a silver lining. La Liga’s deadline for registrations isn’t until the end of August, meaning Rashford could still feature later in the month if the paperwork and finances align.