Rashford dodges double duty

BURTON-ON-TRENT, England - Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho had no influence over the decision to excuse Marcus Rashford from duty at the Under-21 European Championship, England manager Gareth Southgate said on Tuesday.

Southgate has frequently underlined the importance of giving young players tournament experience, but he selected Rashford for his senior squad, rather than let him play at next month's Under-21 Euros in Poland.

Mourinho had expressed reservations about Rashford going to Poland, but Southgate said the decision to call the 19-year-old up for England's forthcoming matches against Scotland and France was his alone.

"I didn't speak to him (Mourinho) about it," Southgate, the former England Under-21 manager, said at St George's Park in Burton-on-Trent, central England.

"Rashford's evolution this season has been clear in terms of the responsibility he's had at his club.

"When I've watched matches, like away at Chelsea in the cup when he was playing up front on his own for long periods, the game against Chelsea at Old Trafford, European matches, quarterfinals, semifinals, where he made such a big impact in big games, he should be in our squad.

"The only decision for me was, do we send him to both?

"The key for us is not the relationship with Jose; it's the relationship with Marcus - making sure that he senses that we're not just plonking him somewhere to try to achieve an objective that ticks a box for us.

"We're very serious about development tournaments, but whenever we're dealing with young players, we've also got to be serious about their own personal development as well.

"Marcus has huge potential and we've got to handle him in the right way to try to get him where we want him long-term."

Asked if Mourinho had put any pressure on him over Rashford, Southgate replied: "I've not spoken to him about it, but I'm not in a position where I can make decisions to keep people happy.

"I'm not going to achieve that. If I'm trying to keep Jose happy, that's going to be, let's say, fairly difficult.

"Respectfully, none of the managers are going to be around in 10 years, but I think people like Marcus Rashford will be. I think that his relationship with England is key."

Rashford finished the season with winner's medals from the League Cup and Europa League, moving Southgate to jokingly describe his prodigiousness as "depressing".

He was picked ahead of United teammate Wayne Rooney for England's World Cup qualifier against Scotland in Glasgow on June 10 and a friendly against France in Paris on June 13.

Rooney, 31, has indicated he could leave United during the offseason after losing his place in the staring XI and Southgate said a move abroad could prove beneficial, citing the experience of goalkeeper Joe Hart, who was loaned by Manchester City to Torino this term.

"It's been good for Joe Hart," said Southgate, whose side is four points clear at the top of UEFA World Cup qualifying Group F.

"The idea of our players playing abroad is a good one. Generally, they mature in different ways.

"It's good life experience, opens them to different culture, different tactics, different styles of coaching.

"Not enough of our players do it. You look at the likes of (Xabi) Alonso, who's been around Europe. It's definitely had a big influence on him.

"I look at (Tottenham's) Eric Dier and his upbringing in Portugal (with Sporting Lisbon), and I think that's helped him become the brains of the team."

Agence France - Presse

United ranks as Europe's richest

Manchester United has been ranked Europe's wealthiest soccer club by a new report into the financial muscle of the continent's top teams.

The report by professional services firm KPMG looked at the finances of 39 clubs based on their popularity on social media, revenues for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and success in European competitions.

The clubs were then ranked by enterprise value, an accounting measure used to assess how much it would cost to buy any given club or company as it includes its total debt, with KPMG using its own formula to reach these valuations.

Despite two relatively disappointing seasons on the pitch between 2014-16, United's value surged past Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona last year, becoming the first club to break the $3.4 billion mark for enterprise value.

Bayern Munich remains in fourth place, while Manchester City edges past Arsenal to take fifth spot, both with enterprise values of just under $1.7 billion.

Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus and Tottenham fill the next four positions, which means six of the 10 are from the English Premier League.

Agence France - Presse

(China Daily 06/01/2017 page22)