Arsenal Legend claims Marcus Rashford should leave Manchester United

Henry feels Rashford should start every match [Photo: Courtesy]

Marcus Rashford may have to think about leaving Manchester United this summer, claims former Arsenal superstar Thierry Henry.

Rashford missed United's weekend defeat to Newcastle, with what Jose Mourinho described as a slight injury.

However, the 20-year-old hasn't started any of United's last six Premier League fixtures.

Rashford has only made sub appearances so far in the league in 2018 [Photo: Courtesy]

The arrival of Alexis Sanchez has led to Mourinho preferring the Chilean on the left side of United's attack, with Anthony Martial switching to the right side.

And with Romelu Lukaku remaining first choice as the focal point of the attack, Rashford is suddenly finding games hard to come by.

Henry was an undisputed starter at Monaco at Rashford's age and believes the youngster may have to think about potentially leaving his boyhood club behind.

"One of the most important things for me is that you have to play," declared Henry, speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football.

"You cannot be on the bench and missing games, missing learning about the game and stopping that momentum, and an example is Rashford.

Owen won the Balon d'Or as he was a guaranteed first-teamer as a teen [Photo: Courtesy]

"Michael Owen had the opportunity to back up what he did the year before because he played, and he played, and he played, and he played -and I can give you more examples.

"But Rashford at times could not capitalise on what he did from that year [after his debut], because sometimes he is playing on the right, [sometimes] on the left.

"Leave is a strong word. Obviously being from there, he wants to play for United. But he has to play and it is becoming even more difficult for him since Sanchez has arrived.

"I think at the end of the season, he is maybe going to have a thinking day of 'do I stay?'"

Rashford didn't feature against Newcastle [Photo: Courtesy]

Rashford has made 37 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils this term, scoring 10 goals.

His playing time has totalled 1,999 minutes, but his only starts in the last six weeks coming in the FA Cup.

And Henry insists that the England youngster needs to be starting week in, week out, if he's to build a rhythm and advance his development.

Henry feels Rashford should be thinking about leaving United [Photo: Courtesy]

"If you're good enough, you can make it work anywhere you want, apart from when something happens behind closed doors that we don't know about," added Henry.

"What I am saying to him is: you need to play. It can be at Manchester United. I'm not saying he can't play at Manchester United, but he still has not had that run of games to carry on the momentum that he has.

"Especially at a young age, you play on that at times. I don't know if he is going to leave or not, but he needs to play."