Alan Shearer Exclusive: Whether Rashford stays or goes Man Utd must sign a striker in January | OneFootball

Alan Shearer

Shearer says Man Utd must sign a striker

Betfair ambassador Alan Shearer discusses Marcus Rashford's future, Trent Alexander-Arnold's Real Madrid links and England's new era under Thomas Tuchel...

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Rashford needs to focus and work hard

For Marcus Rashford, hard work and the correct attitude will see him get back to his best. I don't know what's gone on, but something must have happened for him to do that interview and say that it's best for him to leave Old Trafford.

You can't just flick a switch and get back to your best form, we all have difficult periods where you might not be playing or can't find the back of the net. There's only one way to get through that; and that's to get your head down, work hard and then things should change for the better.

It's too early to talk about his England career - he needs to sort himself out and the club needs to sort itself out as well.

He can't afford yet to be looking at an England career, which has gone pretty stale. He hasn't been picked for such a long time now, and he hasn't been playing for United recently, so I don't think that anyone can entertain any England talk yet with him.

January deal for Rashford will be difficult

There have been reports about a swap deal with Napoli for Rashford with Victor Osimhen going to Old Trafford. We've seen other players go to Serie A and get their career going. However, I think that where Marcus is concerned, he'd have to look at every option - to see whether one fits or suits him, as well as United, which is perhaps the bigger consideration.

Whether that can be done in the next month or so, or whether he's going to try and force his way back into the United starting 11, I don't know.

It will be difficult to get a deal done this January, regardless of whether it is a loan or permanent deal, because of all the different angles and parties involved. It's a really difficult transfer to do.

There's a lot to do and so many aspects to a transfer. First of all it's about agreeing a fee, secondly agreeing a salary. Rashford is on a huge wage at United and I'd be amazed if somebody in the Premier League would be willing to match that.

But just because nobody reports it, doesn't mean that there's no interest from Premier League clubs in signing him. Nothing really surprises me in football, and just because there's been no talk doesn't mean that there haven't been any enquiries whatsoever.

Man Utd need a striker in January

Against Newcastle, Ruben Amorim admitted he had put the wrong team out and had to make a change, bringing Joshua Zirkzee off after 30 minutes. It's never nice when that has to happen to a player and I did feel for Zirkzee because that was embarrassing for him. That has to be on the manager.

United have got a couple of players back for this weekend's trip to Liverpool, with Bruno Fernandes' return in particular a boost for them. I've already highlighted that centre-forward is a position which they need to fill and I've not changed my mind on that.

I guess that they will try and bring one of those in as soon as possible. Whether they can do that in January or get a swap deal done remains to be seen, but that is one of the positions they need to strengthen in order to kick on.

It's not just a centre-forward either, they need to strengthen in a few more positions as well. If he's going to persist with his five at the back, which they don't look comfortable with at all, Amorim also needs two wing-backs.

I'd imagine Amorim has now realised that this is a bigger and tougher job than he ever thought it would be.

Alexander-Arnold deserves fans' understanding

Having interest from Real Madrid, I would imagine, is a massive head-turner for any player. Trent Alexander-Arnold is an unbelievable player, so he is always going to have the biggest and best clubs in the world after his services.

Of course, he's coming to the end of his contract with the lure of Madrid and a potential free transfer if he waits until the end of the season. The financial lure as well could be massive because there's no transfer fee, meaning that you or your agent can command a bigger fee.

I get it and understand it, but I also understand the frustration of Liverpool fans, with Alexander-Arnold having been brought up in the area and coming through the ranks.

I would hope, though, that if he does go, and it's still an 'if', the fans would understand it. He's won everything at Liverpool and he is one of their own, so I would hope that there is an understanding if he does choose to go that way.

He's done nothing wrong in terms of his attitude as well, which has always been exemplary. He's always been fit, always given everything for the football club so nobody can come back at him with any criticism in that regard.

TAA has kept performing despite speculation

Nobody can ever question Trent Alexander-Arnold's ability or attitude. Whenever he's player, he gives his all as you'd expect.

I've been really impressed with him, but it could get tougher to keep it up as the contact runs down. There's always a fear that you could get injured and you know you are taking a small risk in letting your contract run down. But I wouldn't have thought that would affect Trent Alexander-Arnold's performances.

I certainly don't anticipate any changes attitude-wise. You could never question his attitude.

Liverpool have great chance to win title

Liverpool have got every chance of winning the title. They've been unbelievably impressive so far and only lost once in the league.

Every time I've watched Liverpool this season, they've been really at it and they have got so many options. They look so fit and are very impressive.

Tuchel will have close eye on Spurs v Newcastle

Thomas Tuchel has started his new role and he'll be watching on as England manager at Spurs v Newcastle this weekend.

There are going to be plenty of players on show for him there, whether that's Lewis Hall or Anthony Gordon or Tottenham players, with the likes of James Maddison and Dominic Solanke out there on the pitch. There are plenty of options for him to look at in that early game.

For Tuchel, it's about watching as many games as possible and speaking to as many England players as possible.

I will be at the game nice and early so I might try to bump into him and put in a good word for the Newcastle players. Hall in particular has been really impressive for Newcastle at left-back. That's a position which has been a problem in recent times for England.

England don't need overhaul, just minor tweaks

I don't expect Tuchel to overhaul the England squad. What's needed right now are just little tweaks and that's what he will bring to the job.

He will also bring a winning mentality, and that's why he's been apoointed. He's a winner and has had success at a club level. The length of his contract tells us why he's been brought in, which is to win the World Cup.

I don't expect wholesale changes. There'll just be little tweaks here and there and one or two new names coming in.