Former Premier League striker Gary Lineker has settled the debate on who should start for England at the World Cup between Marcus Rashford and Anthony Gordon.
Rashford setback
On Wednesday, news broke that Barcelona have opted against keeping Rashford permanently despite impressing during the 2025/26 season.
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Rashford contributed 14 goals and as many assists to help Barcelona retain their La Liga crown. Barcelona have an option to retain him for £26m, which expires on 15 June. However, the Blaugrana are not expected to take it up as they are not willing to meet this valuation.
Barcelona are prepared to offer £13m or have him on another loan stint. United are refusing to budge on the terms that were initially agreed.
The Catalan giants arrived at that conclusion following their signing of Gordon from Newcastle. In addition to being younger than Rashford, the winger is also viewed as stronger from a defensive standpoint. In response to the Barcelona news, Rashford removed all mention of the club from his social media pages, leaving England instead.
Currently with the Three Lions ahead of their participation in the World Cup, it will be interesting to see who Thomas Tuchel sees as his starting left winger between Rashford and Gordon.
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According to Lineker, Rashford would be his pick but he feels Tuchel will likely prefer Gordon.
Lineker’s view
Speaking on The Rest Is Football on Netflix, Lineker remarked, “We just mentioned them both, Gordon and Rashford, because that looks like what it’s going to be [for England at the World Cup].”
“I think it depends [on] how he [Tuchel] wants to play. If he wants to play with the press, I think he’ll go with Gordon because he’s very, very good at that.”
“The statistics [for Gordon] back that up. I think if he goes for the best player, I think Rashford is unbelievably talented.”
The former England international continued, “Do you know what I think he will do? I know this is our team, not Tuchel’s.”
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“I think Tuchel will start a lot of the time with Gordon because of that kind of energy that he can give and use Marcus more as an impact player. I think they will both feature quite a bit. We will see.”
Lineker concluded, “I have to go Rashford. If he is in form and confident, and he has been really, really good for Barcelona, he has not overplayed, another one as well, but I think Rashford and Gordon will feature quite a lot.”
England kickstart their World Cup campaign on Wednesday, 17 June, when they face Croatia in Arlington, Texas.
Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images
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