I faced Marcus Rashford and Wilfried Zaha - one was better despite dressing room issues

Marcus Rashford has been compared to Wilfried Zaha as he appears to be calling time on his Manchester United career, with both having been accused of causing issues in the dressing room

Former Premier League champion Marc Albrighton believes Wilfried Zaha was a better player than Marcus Rashford, despite his admission that the former caused problems in the dressing room.

Rashford and Zaha have, at different points, been considered two of English football’s most exciting forward talents. Having impressed at Crystal Palace, Zaha was signed by Manchester United for £15million in January 2013, while Rashford was still a teenager in the Red Devils’ academy.

The Ivorian winger failed to impress then-manager David Moyes and was eventually being back to Palace, where he thrived as one of the most direct and effective wingers in the league until his departure in 2023.

Rashford, who broke into the United first team in February 2016, became the club’s shining light for several seasons, operating in Zaha’s favoured left-forward position. But with the 27-year-old’s relationship with his boyhood club now broken, Rashford’s time at United is also expected to end in abrupt fashion.

The similarities between Rashford and Zaha, both in terms of their positions and United careers, led retired goalkeeper Ben Foster to ask former Leicester City winger Albrighton who he ranks as the better player in their prime on the Fozcast.

Albrighton, who came up against both on a number of occasions, said: “I would say Zaha. He’s a better player. I think what he did at Palace was incredible. He carried that team for so many years. Got his move to United, it didn’t work out, he came back and carried them for a few more years.”

He then added: “However, playing against him and seeing him up close, like his attitude sometimes, I thought that isn’t good in a dressing room. You’d even speak to some of the Palace players and they’d be losing their heads with him. I just thought that isn’t what you want in your dressing room.

“So who would you want in your dressing room? I know things with Rashford aren’t great at the minute either… But as a player, Zaha [is better].”

For several years, Zaha was linked with a big move across London to Arsenal. Unfortunately, that move never materialised while he was still in his prime, with Palace turning down a £40m bid for him in June 2019, when Unai Emery still managed the Gunners.

The 32-year-old signed a three-year deal with Turkish giants Galatasaray in the summer of 2023 after his Selhurst Park contract expired. Despite going on to win the Super Lig in his debut season and scoring 10 goals, reports emerged that he was unsettled in Istanbul and he joined Lyon on loan in August 2024.

Zaha endured a torrid time in Ligue 1 as he was regularly left out of the matchday squad, leading to his loan being terminated earlier this month. He signed a one-year loan deal with MLS club Charlotte FC last week.

Zaha’s MLS career will get underway in earnest on February 22 when they head to Lumen Field to take on the Seattle Sounders. The following week he’ll get his first taste of the Bank of America Stadium when Charlotte hosts Atlanta United.

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