England boss Thomas Tuchel says Marcus Rashford is not living up to his potential and warned him not to waste his career.
Rashford is currently on loan at Barcelona, where he has scored three goals and produced five assists in 10 games, after several years of indifferent performances at Manchester United.
The 27-year-old suggested his struggles – which have been on and off the pitch – were down to the changing surroundings at Old Trafford.
In an interview with ITV, posted on social media on Monday and later deleted, he said: “I feel like I’ve been in an inconsistent environment for a very, very long time.”
Tuchel, who called Rashford up out of the blue for his first squad in March, is yet to be fully convinced by the forward and wants more from him.
“I think that is the headline for him (consistency),” the German said. “To keep on pushing himself to the limit.
“I think 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, that is what is demanded on this kind of level and that is the challenge for him.
“It’s not a question of talent, it’s a question of whether he can prove the point at club and international level.
“This is his task, whether he starts for us or comes off the bench he has to constantly prove himself.
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“He can be one of the best in the world because 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, it is as easy as that.
“He need to push himself into goal involvements, that means goals and assists, it is as easy as that.”
Despite his promising start in Spain, which included two goals in a Champions League win at Newcastle, Tuchel has warned Rashford that his career is not yet saved.
“I think he is still on that,” Tuchel said. “He still has to make these decisions. He is still in that moment, he is still young enough to take the right decisions, and not let go.
“Because otherwise he will be disappointed in 10 years at what could have been and what he made of it.”
Tuchel has raised eyebrows by excluding Jude Bellingham from the squad for this camp as he came back from shoulder surgery over the summer.
The Real Madrid star was previously in a leadership group, which includes Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice and John Stones, and Tuchel says he would return to it should he be recalled in November.
Asked if he would be back in it, Tuchel replied: “I guess so. He was (in it) when he was in camp with us.
“If you want to call it a ‘leadership group’, they are the leaders, they are the drivers of this group at this moment.
“There is an ongoing thing. They behave like captains and they are like captains.
“They are at the moment the drivers of the standards, and the drivers of the mentality, and the drivers often on the pitch, so they are my captains.”
