LONDON, July 14, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford could be sidelined for up to three months after deciding to have surgery on a shoulder issue following Euro 2020, according to reports on Tuesday.

Rashford, 23, had a scan earlier in the day on the issue which has hampered the England striker since the end of the club season, the Daily Telegraph and the BBC reported.

He will only be able to have the operation at the end of July due to the surgeon’s availability. Rashford played five times for England in Euro 2020 and missed a penalty in the shootout loss to Italy in the final.

Earlier in the day, anti-racism demonstrators gathered at a mural of Rashford in Manchester after it was vandalised amid a deluge of abuse against England players.

Throughout the day, hundreds gathered at the wall painting which had been defaced with racist abuse as Rashford and his black teammates Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targeted online over the side’s defeat to the Azzurri.

Before he was attacked by trolls after the game, Rashford had become a hero to many inside and outside football by successfully lobbying British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to provide free school meals for under-privileged children during the coronavirus pandemic.

United begin their pre-season preparations at Derby on Sunday before starting their Premier League campaign at home to Leeds on August 14.