Sport

Marcus Rashford to split from Jay-Z sport agency after just one year

Roc Nation regarded Rashford as one of their "New World" athletes that "stand up for what they believe in", but reports suggests he is set to leave.

The Manc The Manc - 14th July 2021

Marcus Rashford is set to leave Jay-Z’s sport agency Roc Nation after just one year on the books, according to The Mirror.

The tabloid newspaper is reporting that the Man Utd forward will be departing the agency alongside Kelly Hogarth – Roc Nation’s vice-president of strategy and communications.

The Man Utd forward officially signed with Jay-Z’s agency in April 2020 – with Roc Nation regarding Rashford as a “New World” athlete who “stands up for what they believe in”.

Rashford worked with Roc Nation last year as he projected a powerful message to parliament about the fight to end child poverty in England. The campaign resulted in two separate u-turns by Downing Street – who reversed their initial decisions to stop food vouchers and free school dinners.

But new reports say the England forward is now expected to leave the agency.

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Founded as a music talent agency by hip-hop pioneer Jay-Z, Roc Nation has since expanded into sport – acquiring American stars before eventually turning to international football players.

Jerome Boateng was the first footballer to sign up to the agency in 2015 – which now represents the likes of Wifried Zaha, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Tyrone Mings.

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However, Rashford is no longer listed as one of Roc Nation’s clients on their website.

Rashford’s football ventures, meanwhile, have been represented by DN May Sports Management – a company led by his brothers.

Rashford has been in the headlines since his penalty miss in the Euro 2020 final – with the forward falling victim to horrific abuse online.

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His mural in Withington was also defaced.

Over the past 24 hours, however, the painting has been repaired and people have flocked to the site from all over the UK to leave notes of support and appreciation.

A demonstration also took place in front of the mural – with Rashford describing himself as being “overwhelmed, thankful and lost for words”.

Police have confirmed that one man has also been arrested on suspicion of sending a racist tweet.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons

Sport

Former Man United man Bastian Schweinsteiger sheds light on brutal exile by José Mourinho

Danny Jones Danny Jones Bastian Schweinsteiger says José Mourinho banned his from Man United first team

Former footballer and ex-Manchester United man Bastian Schweinsteiger has opened up on his turbulent time at the club, revealing some fairly shocking details surrounding his exile from the first team at the hands of José Mourinho.

The Germany and Bayern Munich legend retired back in 2019, going down as arguably one of the most revered midfielders in Europe, but some of the latter chapters in his career were less idyllic than they should have been after moving to Old Trafford.

Schweinsteiger joined the Red Devils in 2015 as a seasoned pro by Louis van Gaal but ended up enjoying only a very limited amount of playing time before ultimately departing in 2017 under the Mourinho regime in less than affable circumstances, to say the least.

The 39-year-old has never really opened up on what went ‘wrong’ during his time at Man United until now, revealing to Gary Neville that was quite literally banned from going into the dressing room on practically his first day under the Portuguese coach.

Bastain Schweinsteiger reveals he was banned from training with the United first team by José Mourinho

A pretty strange way to welcome a Champions League and World Cup winner with eight Bundesliga titles and a cabinet full of other cups to his name, let’s put it that way.

While it’s still unclear as to why exactly José didn’t want him around the first-team squad, Schweinsteiger says that former football director and then-head of development John Murtough – who recently left the club after 11 years – told him he couldn’t train with the senior players simply “because the coach said so”.

Already considered a veteran of the sport at this point, he goes on to detail how, ever the consummate professional, he proceeded to train with the under-16s instead after being given no alternative, which kicked off months of largely unexplained exile and only making very sparse appearances for the team.

Neville‘s face is understandably aghast at the revelations, going on to admit he was left “stunned” by what he was hearing and labelling Schweinsteiger’s treatment not only “embarrassing” for the club and as a fan but verging on the “illegal”.

how many times did schweinsteiger play for man united?
He only made four appearances for United while ‘The Special One’ was in charge.
why did jose mourinho hate bastian schweinsteiger?
The controversy was never made public at the time.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons)/Дмитрий Голубович

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Citing the only real reason that was given for banishment was that Mourinho claimed he “didn’t see [him] happy here at United”, although he did qualify that this was around the time of his injury when he also spent time recovering in Germany.

José did eventually go on to apologise for his treatment in those early days, admitting that his decision fell into the category of “feeling sorry for what I did” and in turn granted him the move to his final club Chicago Fire where he spent the last days of his playing career.

Were he to have been given a different introduction to the club and eventually integrated into the first-team squad in a less confrontational way, his time at Manchester United could have been very different.

You can watch Bastian Schweinsteiger’s full interview on The Overlap, including what he made of other players that José found ‘problematic’ like Paul Pogba down below. Safe to say it’s quite an eye-opener.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Overlap (via YouTube)/Дмитрий Голубович

Sport

Rodri takes a swipe at Real Madrid tactics as Manchester City bow out of the Champions League on penalties

Danny Jones Danny Jones Rodri criticises Real Madrid tactics as Man City go out in UCL quarter finals

Manchester City star Rodri has taken aim at Real Madrid for their tactics in Wednesday night’s Champions League quarter-final as the Blues bowed out of the competition on penalties.

Rodri, who scored the winning goal in the UCL final to secure the treble for Man City last season, cut an understandably disappointed figure in the post-match interviews as his side ultimately conceded the first of their three trophies in a tense night at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking to the media in the tunnel, the Spaniard was asked if he saw the game as simply being a case of two elite teams cancelling each other out and only being separated by small margins, to which he simply replied: “To be honest, today I saw only one team”.

The 27-year-old went on to note that Madrid’s gameplan was obviously to defend and “to [make us] suffer” but that they always knew how tough Carlo Ancelotti’s team would be to come up against in such a crucial tie like this.

Rodri criticises Madrid as he suggests only one team came to play.

Nevertheless, Rodri reiterated that he believes City “deserved to go through” based on their performance across the two games and given how much they tried to play during the home leg.

While Madrid were always going to try and frustrate their opposition and trying and stop Guardiola‘s squad from playing the more free-flowing, expansive game that so often suits them, they did have plenty of moments where the game looked more open and like a counter could come off at either end.

Ultimately, though, an early goal for the visitors from Rodrygo was enough to give Madrid breathing room for the majority of the game and even after Kevin De Bruyne’s explosive equaliser – which saw the stadium erupt as it looked like they might go on to win it – they still managed to eke out extra time.

As for Pep himself, he was predictably cautious of getting drawn into any big exclamations and made sure to hold back, simply reiterating Rodri’s sentiment that the performance was “outstanding” and that given stats like 32 shots attempted (a third of those on target), he could not question their commitment.

While Rodri had a sly dig at Madrid, Pep chose to focus only on his players instead.

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The admittedly ridiculous-sounding ‘Treble-Treble’ might now be off the table but with two trophies still left to defend and another potential record break on the cards if they manage to win a fourth Premier League in a row, there’s still more than enough glory to play for.

City’s next big fixture is the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea this Saturday as rivals Manchester United take on Coventry City in the other draw on Sunday.

Safe to say it’s looking very much like we could get back-to-back Manchester derby FA Cup finals.

As for the title race, the Blues have a slim two-point cushion at the top of the table but with Arsenal and Liverpool slipping up last weekend, it could prove to be the key slip-up they needed to now set the tone and finish the season strong as they often do. It’s going to be a blockbuster few weeks.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Sky Sports/Man City (via Instagram)

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