Jamie Carragher claims Marcus Rashford has never been a 'saint' and has relied on his inner circle to create positive PR for him.
Rashford is in line to return to the Manchester United squad for this evening's Premier League match away to Wolves.
The England star has been fined two weeks' wages following a two-night trip to Belfast which saw him report ill for training last Friday.
He is claimed to have been on a '12-hour tequila bender' and did not return to Manchester until Friday morning.
Jamie Carragher says Man Utd star Marcus Rashford has never been a saint
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Rashford was left out of the squad to play Newport County in the FA Cup at the weekend, with manager Erik ten Hag confirming it was an 'internal' matter.
United have since released a statement confirming that the situation had now been resolved and the 26-year-old is back in contention to play.
It is the third time Rashford has gotten on the wrong side of Ten Hag in the last 12 months.
He was dropped for the visit to Wolves last term for turning up late to training, while Ten Hag condemned the birthday celebrations he had after the Manchester derby earlier this season.
Rashford has done a lot of charity work, most famously leading the campaign for free school meals in 2020.
But former Liverpool defender Carragher says the forward is not the person his team made him out to be.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Carragher said: "I don’t ever believe he was this saint that he was made out to be, and this inner circle, I think they have done a great job with Marcus – there was a lot of PR around him.
"It put him as if he was this guy that was almost going to save the world, when he’s just a young lad from Manchester, with a few quid and is a brilliant footballer."
Rashford has struggled on the pitch this season, scoring just four goals in all competitions.
Carragher still believes he is United's best player but says that is not a good sign for the Red Devils.
He added: "I’ve always said this – if Rashford is Manchester United’s best player, which I’d probably say he is, I don’t think Manchester United can win anything big.
"That’s not a criticism of him, I just think they’d probably need someone a level above – he’s almost that second or third guy in that front three.
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Marcus Rashford could return to the Man Utd squad at Wolves
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"There’s that much pressure and scrutiny on him to be the guy who gets the goals.
"I don’t think he’s quite good enough to be the Wayne Rooney or the Andy Cole or Dwight Yorke, but there’s nobody else there."
United legend Roy Keane agrees with Carragher that Rashford has never been 'perfect'.
But the former skipper doesn't think there is any malicious intent in his actions.
Jamie Carragher has given a brutal assessment of Marcus Rashford at Man Utd
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Keane said: "I don’t think he [Rashford] was ever that perfect. The stuff he was doing off the field, which he gets a lot of credit for.
"I never thought he had some halo above his head, but I also don’t think for one minute that he’s some sort of nasty lad.
"I think he’s certainly made a few mistakes very close to each other.
"The profile of Manchester United, the fact United are struggling, he’s an easy target – his decision-making currently is obviously not very good."
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