Marcus Rashford should start for England in their World Cup qualification double-header against Malta and Slovenia ahead of his Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney, according to Alan Shearer.
The 18-year-old has replaced the Three Lions captain in the starting XI at club level in recent weeks after impressing Jose Mourinho following a couple of substitute appearances at the start of the campaign.
After scoring three goals in five Premier League appearances this season as well as one in the EFL Cup, Shearer has called on interim boss Gareth Southgate place his faith in Rashford and expressed a desire not to see Rooney occupy the no.10 role.
“Not just one game either, give him a run,” the former England captain told the Sun.
“This is a young player with pace, trickery, awareness and a great eye for goal. He is not too young either, he is good enough and, from what I hear, he is a very level headed lad.
“The question then, is who plays just behind him? It should NOT be Wayne Rooney.
“He has not started in the last three games for his club and doesn’t look like getting back into this Manchester United side.
“This is why I said it would have been better for him to retire from international football after the Euros. He can no longer do it for club and country, right now he can’t even do it for his club and that is what he needs to concentrate on to have a chance of extending his career.”
Rashford, who was apart of the Euro 2016 squad, was dropped to the U21’s during the last international break and marked his debut at that level with a hat-trick against Norway.
He is one of four centre-forwards named in Southgate’s squad and has arguably been in better form than both Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy this season.
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