Why hasn't Marcus Rashford started for Manchester United against AC Milan?

Marcus Rashford has not started for Manchester United against AC Milan.

The pre-season friendly is taking place at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland.

Marcus Rashford wasn’t ready to start for Manchester United

Marcus Rashford is in the squad for his reunion against Ruben Amorim and AC Milan. However, he has not made the starting XI.

The Englishman spent the 2025/26 season on loan at Barcelona, where he won La Liga and contributed 14 goals. Rashford enjoyed his time in Spain, and thus, wanted to stay at the Camp Nou. However, the club didn’t want to keep him, sending him back to Old Trafford.

While he didn’t particularly fancy a return to the Premier League, Manchester United have given Rashford a huge pay rise, which will likely soften the blow.

Now, he’s ready to get back into the swing of things for his boyhood side.

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Rashford joined his teammates in Ireland for the victory against Leeds United, but didn’t play, with Michael Carrick telling MUTV: “Marcus, Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo aren’t quite ready yet. We’re preserving them for this weekend.”

Now the weekend, is here, and Rashford isn’t playing. However, having spent so long away, this is most likely to reserve him to make an impact off the bench as the manager slowly integrates him back into the team.