Ruben Amorim has come to a decision over Marcus Rashford’s future at Manchester United after dropping him for their dramatic win over Manchester City.
Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were both left out of the matchday squad for Sunday’s 2-1 win over City at the Etihad.
It had looked like United would lose to their bitter rivals after Josko Gvardiol put the home side ahead with yet another headed goal against the Red Devils.
But Amorim’s side rallied late on and equalised through a Bruno Fernandes penalty, won by Amad Diallo. The Ivory Coast international then scored a sensational winner from a tight angle in the 90th minute to secure a crucial three points for United.
Speaking after the match, Amorim explained his decision to leave out Rashford and Garnacho.
“It’s important to say why: it was not a disciplinary thing,” Amorim said.
“Next week, next game, new life, they are fighting for their places. For me it’s important, the performance in training, the performance in games, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with teammates, the way you push your teammates.
“Everything is important in our context in the beginning of something when we want to change a lot of things, when people in our club are losing their jobs we have to set the standards really high and for that they have to fight for a place in the team.”
Reports earlier this month claimed that United were willing to sell Rashford, potentially as early as the January transfer window.
The Guardian has now claimed that Amorim has decided Rashford ‘needs to leave’ the club ‘to engineer a shift in culture’ both for football and non-football staff.
United are said to be willing to accept a ‘cut-price’ offer for the England international, although his reported salary of £365,000 a week means only a few clubs could afford him.
Rashford has been strongly linked with French giants Paris Saint-Germain for a number of seasons.
The forward’s representatives reportedly met with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi in 2022, and the French club made another approach in 2023 before Rashford committed himself to United with his new long-term contract.
Rashford was dropped for Sunday’s derby (Image: Getty)
PSG were also interested in signing the forward as a replacement for Kylian Mbappe prior to his move to Real Madrid, although an official bid failed to materialise.
Manchester-born Rashford has always stated that he would prefer to remain with his boyhood club and win ‘big trophies’.
“I think as you get older, your dreams change as well. So, you know, in the beginning it was just about playing for Man United,” he told the club’s website in the summer.
“And when you get there, it’s about winning. So I still have, you know, dreams of winning the big trophies, the Premier League and Champions League with Man United.
“So, you know, hopefully we can get that done.”