How much could Manchester United fine Marcus Rashford for his night out before Newport FA Cup tie?

Keeping a low profile when out in public is nigh on impossible when you’re a famous soccer player, which Marcus Rashford is finding out the hard way. The Manchester United striker travelled to Belfast in Northern Ireland on Wednesday for a night out with a former youth academy teammate, which the Premier League club had no issue with given the players had been given a day off the following day.

The issue, however, came when the 26-year-old was also spotted partying on Thursday night, hours before he was due in for training as the Red Devils finalised preparations for their FA Cup fourth-round tie against Newport County on Sunday. Yet another tale of indiscipline in the Old Trafford dressing room.

Rashford: “Illness” and “an internal matter”

“There are doubts over Jonny Evans and Marcus Rashford, who both reported ill at Carrington on Friday morning,” read part of an injury update posted on the United website. The England forward’s “illness,” which eventually led to him missing the 4-2 win over Newport, raised eyebrows in light of his Belfast adventure.

Manager Erik Ten Hag was asked about Rashford’s absence both before and after Sunday’s game and insisted illness was the reason, although he did confess “the rest” was “an internal matter” he would “deal with”.

Report: Rashford to be fined two weeks wages by United

On Monday, British newspaper The Sun reported Rashford and Dwaine Maynard, the forward’s brother and agent, had gone to United’s Carrington training complex for discussions with Ten Hag, and further underlined that the club believe they must take disciplinary action against their player, even though they maintain that he was indeed ill.

According to The Sun, Rashford is facing a fine of £650,000 (almost $826,000) for breaking club rules, the equivalent to two weeks’ wages. Calling in sick the day after being spotted on a night out has, clearly, not gone down well with the Red Devils, who have had their fair share of controversies to deal with already this season.

Rashford showing flashes of best form in poor season

And things have hardly been going much better on the field, either for Rashford or Manchester United on the whole. The striker, who was also criticised for holding a big birthday bash in the midst of a poor run of results in October, has scored only four goals and provided five assists in 26 appearances in all competitions. A huge drop-off from last season, when he hit 30 goals for the first time in his career and set up another nine.

The England international had, however, shown glimpses of his best form in recent weeks, scoring against both Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur and laying two goals for teammates against Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic in his last four appearances. Ten Hag will hope this disciplinary issue doesn’t disrupt one of his key players just as he was threatening to get back into form.