Marcus Rashford out of England squad: How do Noni Madueke, Harvey Barnes compare to Man United attacker?

England's first international window since the 2026 World Cup has been hit by a number of withdrawals, with Thomas Tuchel's original 27-man squad for four UEFA Nations League fixtures reduced by several notable absentees.

The Three Lions are due to face Spain at Wembley on September 26, Czechia in Prague on September 29, Croatia in Rijeka on October 3, and the Czechs again at Wembley on October 6, but Marcus Rashford, Cole Palmer, Kobbie Mainoo, Tino Livramento and Declan Rice have all pulled out through injury, with James Garner and Morgan Gibbs-White called up as replacements.

Rashford's absence is particularly notable, with the Manchester United forward forced off during Sunday's 1-1 draw against Fulham after picking up an issue, while Noni Madueke was not selected after a limited start to the season at Arsenal and Newcastle United's Harvey Barnes made the squad.

Here, Football Whispers examines how Rashford's 2025-26 output compares with those of Madueke and Barnes, using league data from last season.

What could Marcus Rashford have offered for the England national team?

Rashford returned to Manchester United this summer after a season-long loan at Barcelona, where he rediscovered his form, finishing the campaign with eight goals and seven assists from 32 La Liga appearances in the Blaugrana's title-winning campaign.

The 28-year-old also created 46 chances and completed 30 successful dribbles during his time in Spain, giving him a strong platform to strengthen his case for England after being left out of the Euro 2024 squad.

However, Rashford featured in all six of England's World Cup matches, starting three times and contributing one goal and one assist across 222 minutes as the Three Lions finished third.

With 78 caps and 19 international goals, the Manchester-born attacker is by far the most experienced of the three players being compared, and his international experience and recent club form would have given Tuchel another option in the wide areas.

Harvey Barnes vs Marcus Rashford vs Noni Madueke: How do they compare?

Barnes has just two senior caps and no goals for England, both appearances coming from the bench, while Madueke's international career is more advanced with one goal in 16 caps, including five appearances at the 2026 World Cup.

There is also a positional difference between the three, with Rashford and Barnes both naturally operating from the left wing, whereas Madueke is predominantly a right winger who has occasionally been used on the opposite flank.

While Rashford recorded 15 direct goal involvements, with eight goals and seven assists, across 32 La Liga appearances last season, Barnes scored seven times and supplied one assist in 37 Premier League games for Newcastle, while Madueke's Arsenal campaign was more limited in terms of playing time, with the winger contributing three goals and one assist across 1,218 minutes in the English top flight last season.

Barnes' seven goals from an xG of 5.89 represent an overperformance relative to the quality of the chances he received, while Rashford's eight goals from 7.44 xG were much closer to what the underlying numbers suggested.

Madueke recorded the highest shots-on-target percentage of the three at 38.5%, although his overall shooting volume was considerably lower than that of Rashford and Barnes, reflecting the different roles and amounts of playing time they had during the campaign.

Early-season form provides another point of comparison, with Barnes recording one goal and two assists in five 2026-27 Premier League starts, while Rashford has no goals or assists in 355 Premier League minutes and Madueke has played just 23 minutes across two substitute appearances in the league.

Those early figures offer only a small sample at this stage of the season, and the contrasting starts of the three players could make for an interesting selection picture as Tuchel assesses his options over the coming international windows.