Rashford has a new problem at Man Utd: Four doesn’t go into three

10 Sept 2026 06:59 BST | 4 min read

Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

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Marcus Rashford’s return to Manchester United has been positive, with the England winger contributing well after Barcelona elected not to take up his buy option in the summer – but he faces a new problem at Old Trafford.

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United had been planning for a future without Rashford, so he faces a major difficulty in finding space in Michael Carrick’s plans.

This is particularly the case given that the Man Utd manager himself has confirmed that Bryan Mbeumo, arguably one of the club’s standout performers as they qualified for the Champions League with a third-placed finish last season, also prefers to feature on the left.

Compared

Bryan Mbeumo

F (CR), M (R)

Man Utd

Bryan Mbeumo

F (CR), M (R)

Man Utd

VS

Marcus Rashford

F, M (L)

Man Utd

Marcus Rashford

F, M (L)

Man Utd

€66M	ETV	€28.1M
€59.4M - €72.6M	ETV Range	€25.3M - €31M
27 years old (07 Aug, 1999)	Age	28 years old (31 Oct, 1997)
Cameroon	Nationality	England

Carrick told the club's official website: “He prefers playing on the left, he told me!”

As for Mbeumo, he said: “Obviously I’ve been used to playing a few positions in the attack.

“Back even in my first season as a professional, back in the days of Troyes, I was playing right, left, central.

“So obviously I’ve got some preferences, like I would say key positions on the field, but I can have them either when I play centrally or wide, so it doesn’t really matter.

“As long as I can play and perform for the team, I’m happy.”

Sesko’s return starts domino effect that’s bad news for Rashford

Mbeumo has so far been playing off the right for United in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but a complication looms.

Benjamin Sesko is returning to full fitness after a pre-season injury, which is set to prompt a reshuffle in the attack. The former RB Leipzig forward will ultimately become United’s preferred option at centre-forward, pushing Matheus Cunha out of the role he has occupied early this season.

Naturally, the Brazilian would return to the right wing, forcing Mbeumo to shuffle to his preferred position on the left.

While Rashford’s form has been positive early in the campaign, he has not had the decisive impact that Mbeumo has enjoyed, with the Cameroon international having scored in each of United’s last two Premier League outings.

The Englishman therefore faces a major challenge to break into Carrick’s starting XI and needs to take any opportunity that comes his way.

One of those could arrive on Thursday, when Man Utd open their Champions League campaign at home against Sabah. The Azerbaijani side are expected to be one of the whipping boys of the competition, so this is exactly the type of match Rashford needs to profit from in order to lay down a case to become a regular.