Thomas Tuchel urges Marcus Rashford not to end career ‘disappointed’ and to ‘be one of the best in the world’

Tuchel has encouraged Rashford to “constantly prove himself” and avoid ending his career disappointed at what might have been.

“That is the headline for him,” Tuchel said ahead of England’s World Cup qualifier against Latvia on Tuesday.

“To keep on pushing himself to the limit. The limit for him is very, very high. Maybe higher than for others. He has the potential, but potential is a dangerous word with high-level sports.

“You have to reach your personal best on a regular basis. It’s not a question of talent, it’s a question of whether he can prove the point at club and international level. Whether he starts for us or comes off the bench he has to constantly prove himself.

“He can be one of the best in the world. The quality I see in training, the finishing with both legs and with the head. He is explosive, he is fast, he is strong in the air so where are the limits? There are no limits, but the numbers don’t reach the potential. He needs to push himself into goal involvements. That means goals and assists. He knows that from me.”

Tuchel added: “He still has to make these decisions. He is in that moment, he is young enough to take the right decisions and not let go. Otherwise, he will be disappointed in 10 years at what could have been and what he made of it.”

Tuchel has reintegrated Rashford into the England fold after he fell out of Gareth Southgate’s squad towards the end of his tenure. Rashford missed Euro 2024, but has been named in three of Tuchel’s four England squads thus far.

Tuchel says Rashford’s loan move to Aston Villa in the second half of the 2024/25 season was positive for the 27-year-old.

“That was quite a bold move because to go in a working team, and a team that was well settled and played a hard-working style, that was a very, very good move for him and he settled in very quickly,” Tuchel said.

The England head coach also laid out the next steps for Rashford, as he looks to improve his goalscoring form on the international stage.

“For the work-rate against the ball I selected him,” Tuchel said. “And still he had not as many goals and not as many goal involvements as he could have. He creates quite a lot of chances, but for the quality and finishing that we see with training, he just doesn’t score enough. That’s the next step.”

England could secure qualification for next year’s World Cup, taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with victory against Latvia on Tuesday.