Marcus Rashford has called out a media outlet over a yet-to-be-published story that suggests he has “benefitted commercially” from his campaigns with Burberry and Macmillan.

The Manchester United and England player took to Twitter after learning about the article that The Spectator was allegedly planning to run.

“To clarify, I don’t need to partner with brands. I partner because I want to progress the work I do off the pitch and most of any fee I would receive contributes to that,” he said.

He pointed to how his partnership with Burberry means “children have a safe place to be after school where they will be fed” and a partnership with Macmillan means “80,000 children now have a book to call their own”.

The 23-year-old is credited for single-handedly forcing the government to backtrack on their plans to cancel free school meals during the pandemic, ensuring that they were extended into half-term and the Christmas holidays last year. He also became the youngest person ever to top The Sunday Times Giving List by raising £20 million in donations from supermarkets for groups tackling the issue.

His partnership with Burberry saw the fashion label make a number of donations to initiatives that help disadvantaged young people, including London Youth and Norbrook Youth Club in Manchester, which Rashford attended as a child.

Rashford concluded by saying: “But I’m also a Manchester United and England international footballer. Why has there always got to be a motive? Why can’t we just do the right thing?”

Penning a personal essay in the summer 2020 issue of Dazed, Rashford spoke on the importance of supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“When I finally made it professional, I knew I had a responsibility to open up new opportunities to those who had contributed to my success, to allow children in these communities to see the bigger picture,” he wrote.

“Children from middle-class backgrounds are taught to reach for the stars, that anything is possible. That doesn’t happen in communities like mine,” he explained. “Children grow up believing that what they see on their doorstep is all it can be. That has to change. If children can’t see that they can be anything they put their mind to, just because of the area they grew up in, we have to open their eyes. We have to take the opportunity and the belief to them.”