Marcus Rashford has sent a message to his critics with a response to Jamie Carragher as he looks to get his Manchester United career back on track.

The English forward spent last season on loan at Barcelona, winning the La Liga title with the Catalans and impressing under Hansi Flick. His tally of 14 goals and 15 assists in 49 games wasn’t enough to secure a permanent move to Camp Nou, though, as the Spanish giants opted not to trigger a £26 million buy option.

United’s stance appeared to be that there was no future for Rashford at Old Trafford after an unceremonious departure back in the winter of 2024. He headed to Aston Villa on loan for the second half of that campaign after falling out with former head coach Ruben Amorim.

‘Stop it’ Carragher Hits Out at Neville Over Rashford

Rashford has been given a second chance by Michael Carrick who replaced Amorim in January and knows the player well. They were teammates in the latter stages of the United boss’ playing career and he coached him as an assistant to Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Carrick’s appointment caused a U-turn and Rashford is now back ready for a new Premier League campaign with his boyhood club. That hasn’t stopped the media, pundits and fans from debating whether it’s the right move from both the player and the club to make amends.

Gary Neville brought Rashford’s name up during the latest episode of The Overlap’s Stick to Football. The former United captain asked his colleagues what they made of his return, but this riled up Carragher, who wasn’t interested in discussing it:

After Neville responded, ‘No’ Carragher told him to ‘stop it’ and pointed out that each episode of their podcast seemed to include a segment on Rashford or Trent Alexander-Arnold. The English right-back made a controversial move from Liverpool to Real Madrid last summer.

Their exchange continued when Neville highlighted that Rashford had just returned to United. Carragher said:

Rashford has been a hot topic of discussion in football media throughout the years especially when he clashed with Carrick’s predecessor Amorim. His star power has led to constant scrutiny including within the United fanbase as some have reservations over his reunion with the Red Devils.

Rashford Responds to Carragher and Neville’s Argument

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Carragher’s defence of Rashford didn’t go unnoticed by the United star who thanked the former Liverpool defender for not wanting to delve into the situation regarding his return. He posted a telling message on X:

Rashford broke through United’s youth system before debuting at the age of 18 with a brace against Midtjylland in the UEFA Europa League in February 2016. He has since appeared 426 times for the club, scoring 138 goals and winning the Europa League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Carrick is delighted to have the England international back and in his squad for the new season and is thought to have played an important role in his return. He will be competing with Matheus Cunha at left-wing while could provide backup to Benjamin Sesko up front.

Michael Owen has predicted how the 2026-27 Premier League table will look in full come next year, and he’s made several bold calls involving Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and a newly-promoted side.

The season gets underway this Friday (August 20th) when defending champions Arsenal host EFL Championship winners Coventry City at the Emirates. While the transfer window remains open until September 3rd, most clubs have done the majority of their business, and squad assessment is the main factor in determining how teams will fare.

There are always twists and turns throughout a 38-game campaign, making it difficult to predict the table. In eight months’ time, Owen might look back and regret one or two of his predictions.

Relegated (20-18)

Only one promoted team suffered relegation last season, as Burnley were sent straight back down alongside West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Owen isn’t optimistic that the latest newcomers will fare as well as Sunderland, who qualified for the Europa League, and Leeds United last term.

The legendary former Liverpool and Manchester United striker reckons Hull City and Ipswich Town will fail to stay up. He said during a segment with the Premier League’s media team: “Sorry Hull… Fulham, you’re going down, unfortunately, you lost your manager… Ipswich, you’re going down too.”

Hull are the bookies’ favorites to finish bottom of the Premier League this season after achieving promotion as play-off winners. The Tigers finished sixth in the Championship, the lowest of all participants in the play-offs, and as such, many feel they lack experience and a strong enough squad to compete under Sergej Jakirovic.

Relegation is also expected from Ipswich, both by Owen and bookmakers, although the Tractor Boys have the benefit of experiencing top-flight football in the 2024-25 campaign. They have a new manager in charge following the appointment of Gary O’Neil as Kieran McKenna’s replacement, and he saved Bournemouth from the drop back in 2022-23.

One of Owen’s most contentious predictions is that Fulham would be one of his three relegated teams. The Cottagers have been in the big time since 2023 and have turned to Alvaro Arbeloa as Marco Silva’s successor off the back of a rather unconvincing spell as Real Madrid interim boss.

Mid-table (17-9)

Moving on to lower and upper mid-table, Owen believes Sunderland ‘will struggle’ but just have enough to save themselves. The Black Cats are headed into a Europa League campaign and midweek football could prove problematic for Regis Le Bris’ side.

Owen has backed Coventry to be one of this season’s surprise packages after an impressive past season in the Championship. Frank Lampard’s transfer chiefs have been busy strengthening his squad, spending over £100 million on players such as Gustavo Hamer and Carl Rushworth.

Losing Oliver Glasner could be an issue for Crystal Palace and the former England frontman reckons they will repeat their 2025-26 finish in 15th. He expects Leeds to do one place better than last term and Bournemouth to drop way down from sixth to 12th after replacing Andoni Iraola with Marco Rose.

Owen thinks Nottingham Forest will be ‘alright’ in 11th while Brighton & Hove Albion are tipped to finish in the middle of the pack. As for another of his former clubs, Newcastle United, he believes they will improve on last season despite losing Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon.

Europa/Conference League (8-6)

The biggest shocker is Owen’s prediction for who will claim the Europa League and Conference League football next season. If England is awarded five Champions League spots again, eighth place will qualify for Europe’s third-tier competition, and he has gone with Everton.

David Moyes’ Toffees have been relatively quiet this summer and came off the boil during the second half of last season. It would be a massive achievement for the Merseyside outfit but Owen sees Manchester City and Aston Villa dropping into the Europa League.

Villa, whom Owen claims have ‘overachieved ‘, have lost Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans but replaced them with Yohan Manzambi and Joao Gomes. They are also set to sell Ezri Konsa to Arsenal, which could have a massive impact just days ahead of the season.

As for City, missing out on Champions League football could prove costly for new manager Enzo Maresca. After a poor showing in the Community Shield, some believe history is repeating itself, and the Pep Guardiola-less Citizens are set to nosedive, much like Manchester United in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.

Title winners and UEFA Champions League

The biggest climbers on Owen’s Premier League predicted table are Tottenham, who avoided the drop on the final day last season. He not only thinks Roberto De Zerbi’s side will be battling in the top half but expects them to land fifth amid spending over £237m on a rebuild that includes the club-record £100m arrival of Sandro Tonali.

Manchester United are backed to remain in the Champions League positions but fall to fourth in Michael Carrick’s first full season as permanent head coach. He is tipping Liverpool to improve under Iraola, despite a lack of business at Anfield, perhaps convinced that Alexander Isak will return to his best.

Owen reckons Chelsea will have a ‘good season’ under Xabi Alonso after finishing 10th last term. He thinks they will be runners-up, and the Blues have focused more on experience this window, with Maxence Lacroix, Jordan Henderson, and Danny Welbeck arriving alongside £117m club-record signing Morgan Rogers.

Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs

Arsenal will be crowned champions again if Owen’s mystic powers come to fruition and Mikel Arteta’s men looked the real deal in their Community Shield win over City. They have also added Guimaraes to an already star-studded midfield and could finish the window with a marquee attacker amid links with Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen.

Michael Owen’s Predicted 2026-27 Premier League Table

Tottenham Hotspur are advancing in talks to seal a double deal for Man City forwards Savinho and Omar Marmoush, according to David Ornstein.

Spurs have already made six signings so far this summer, bringing in goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, defenders Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, and Jan Paul van Hecke, alongside midfielders Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali.

But manager Roberto De Zerbi stated that he felt that was only 60% of the club’s business that needed to be done in this window, and it has now emerged that the club are pushing hard to make big changes to their forward line too.

Man City star Savinho has emerged as a top target, with talks ongoing over a deal that could reach £85m, while Liverpool star Cody Gakpo is also understood to be someone who is liked by the club, with the player also keen on a move to north London.

However, a third addition is also wanted by De Zerbi, and it has now emerged that the club are in advanced talks with Man City over a double deal for Marmoush and Savinho.

Nothing is finalised at this stage, however, talks are understood to be advancing. 27-year-old Marmoush is considered likely to leave the Etihad this summer, and Spurs are now pushing ahead to make him part of De Zerbi’s squad.

Marmoush joined Man City from Eintracht Frankfurt in January 2025 on a four-and-a-half-year contract, worth a reported £250,000-a-week. But he has struggled for regular first-team football since his arrival, finding himself behind Erling Haaland in the pecking order, which means he was restricted to just 700 minutes of Premier League action last season.

With Enzo Maresca now at the helm at the Etihad Stadium, it’s unclear if he remains in the manager’s plans for the upcoming season or if City would be willing to let him leave in the final weeks of the window.

‘Unbelievable’ Marmoush Ready to Make a Difference

Marmoush’s start to life in the Premier League was exhilarating, but he has since struggled to find a rhythm and fitness that has got the best out of him.

But speaking in January after he returned from the African Cup of Nations, former manager Pep Guardiola praised him as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘special’.

“His dynamic energy and runs are really good. I see him more as a striker not a proper winger. He’s a guy for transition actions.