Football
Arindam Rej, Man United Correspondent 7y

Marcus Rashford should play at U21 Euro if he's not tired - Chris Waddle

Marcus Rashford should go to the Under-21 European Championship this summer, as long as he has not played too much football during the season, former England winger Chris Waddle has told ESPN FC.

Manchester United forward Rashford has been recalled to the England senior squad for Saturday's World Cup qualifying match against Malta at Wembley. The 18-year-old had been dropped to the under-21s for a European Championship qualifier against Norway in September and scored a hat trick in a 6-1 victory.

"He should definitely go, as it'd be great experience, if he has not played too much for Man United and England," Waddle, who won 62 caps for England, said. "If he has played a lot, it is up to people to weigh it up. And Man United might object, saying it's too much football.

"If he's playing week in and week out until May, then you've got to look at it. And Man United will be going round the world somewhere in preseason."

Harry Kane is a high-profile player who was picked for England at the Under-21 European Championship in 2015, despite his club Tottenham Hotspur having not wanted him to go after a prolific season for them. England finished bottom of their group, with Kane failing to score.

The striker made a slow start to the next campaign, failing to score in the first eight Tottenham matches before ending with 28 goals in all competitions. He then had another disappointing tournament with the England senior squad at Euro 2016 -- again failing to score -- and made a slow start to this season before sustaining ankle ligament damage.

"When they come back for the first few games, will he [Rashford] look jaded like Harry Kane? You don't want to see him injured," Waddle said.

"Harry Kane went [to the Under-21 Euros], didn't do as well as you'd expect, then he scored lots of goals in the league. It's very hard to judge if he was then just jaded at Euro 2016."

When asked about the prospect of Rashford becoming burnt out, Waddle said: "There's talk about burnout but, not many years ago, you just used to play all year round. But if he looks a bit weary then you have to take that into consideration. The game is demanding.

"If you look at Spain and Germany, they just play all year round. The Premier League is more demanding. It's physical, it's end-to-end.

"I don't know the lad as a person but confidence makes you want to play."

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