Marcus Rashford sends message to Gareth Southgate after being cut from England squad

Southgate admitted it was ‘difficult’ to leave Rashford out but said other forwards have had ‘better seasons’

Marcus Rashford wished Gareth Southgate and England “all the best” at Euro 2024 after the Manchester United forward was left out of the squad for the tournament this summer.

Rashford was a shock omission from Southgate’s 33-player training squad announced on Tuesday afternoon, which will be trimmed to the allocated 26 players by June 8 ahead of the Euros.

The 26-year-old has represented England at the last four major international tournaments but has suffered a difficult season on the pitch this term, scoring just eight goals in all competitions for United.

It represented a significant drop-off from his 30-goal campaign the previous year, with Southgate admitting that other forwards, such as Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, have had” better seasons”.

Rashford took to Instagram shortly after England’s training squad was announced at 2pm and posted a message of support for the Three Lions ahead of the Euros.

"Wishing Gareth and the boys all the best for the up and coming tournament,” Rashford said.

(Marcus Rashford Instagram)

Southgate, who also dropped vice-captain Jordan Henderson from his squad, admitted it was a “difficult decision” to leave both players out.

“These are, of course, difficult calls, talking about players who are very good players, who have been an important part of what we’ve done for a number of years,” Southgate said.

“With Marcus, I just feel other players in that area of the pitch have had better seasons, it’s as simple as that.”