Wayne Rooney says Marcus Rashford is the only player capable of beating his all-time Manchester United goalscoring record, but only if he shows the right desire.

Rashford’s United career looks set for a second act this season after Barcelona failed to turn last term’s loan move into a permanent deal and the England international has played a part in Michael Carrick’s pre-season preparations.

The 28-year-old had designs on life away from Old Trafford, with a loan at Aston Villa in 2025, and Rooney says he has work to do to make a go of things second time around.

“It’s just such a strange one with Marcus because I think we know he’s got the ability. I think he’s shown that,” Rooney, who scored a record 253 goals for United, said on his new podast Stick to United.

“For me, has he got the hunger, does he want to play for Manchester United? Now, if he wants to play for Manchester United, I think the first thing he has to do – I’ve been there in 2010 when I had to leave the football club – he has to build a relationship with the fans.

“And the easiest way to do that is to work hard and body language. I think Marcus’ body language isn’t great, and so it might be something he has to work on. He might have to work with someone to make his body language look better.

“I think his work rate has to improve, but if he wants to be at the football club, he just needs to knuckle down. You do it, and he’s a young lad. He’s from Manchester. He’s the one player who can go and get my goalscoring record.”

Rashford last played for United in December 2024 after falling out of favour under then-boss Ruben Amorim, heading for temporary spells at Villa Park and the Nou Camp.

“I don’t want to see Marcus Rashford doing well at Aston Villa or doing well at Barcelona,” Rooney added. “I want to see him doing well at Manchester United and scoring goals for Manchester United. But that means he has to he has to just get his head down, work his socks off, and then be more positive.

“But it’s on him. If he’s back playing for Manchester United, I think he has to have a real close look at who’s round him.

“Only he can say who the people are around him who he really trusts. Because there’s not many people you trust really. It’d be a small amount of people, keep them close to him, go into training, work hard, get himself right. If he does that, he’ll be fine.”