Marcus Rashford decried Manchester United’s lack of strategy as leaving the English giants in “no man’s land” after joining Barcelona on loan.

The 27-year-old, who played 426 times for United after coming through the club’s academy, left Old Trafford in January for a loan spell at Aston Villa after falling out of favour with new manager Ruben Amorim.

United went on to have their worst season since being relegated in 1973/74 as they finished 15th in the Premier League and failed to qualify for European competition.

Rashford believes the root of United’s problems is in the instability caused by appointing six different managers since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

“We have been way below where we deem United to be but then if you take a step back, which I’ve been able to do, especially over these last six months, what do you expect?” Rashford told the Rest Is Football podcast.

“When Liverpool went through this, they got (Jurgen) Klopp, they stuck with him. They didn’t win in the beginning. People only remember his final few years when he was competing with (Manchester) City and winning the biggest trophies.

“To start a transition, you have to make a plan and stick to it. It’s not easy to do. But this is where I speak about being realistic with what your situation is.

“We’ve had that many different managers, different ideas and different strategies to win that you end up in no man’s land.”