Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has pointed the finger at Marcus Rashford's entourage, after they advised him to give an interview about his future at the club.
After Rashford was excluded from the squad for the Manchester derby match, he publicly declared his desire to…New challenge“, and admitting that his departure from the club was a matter of “when” and not “if”.
Amorim has since left Rashford out of his last two clubs, but has refused to close the door on the 27-year-old, who he believes should question the advice given by those close to him.
“It's a difficult situation,” Amorim said. Sky Sports. “I understand that these players have a lot of people around them, and they make choices that are not the first idea of the player.
“I'm always here to help Marcus as another player. I have to do what I have to do. They chose to do the interview because it's not just Marcus. I understand that. As a coach, I focus on performance and the way you handle it.” As for the rest, it's better for me and the club to deal with that when the time comes.
“Right now I'm focusing on improving Marcus and we need a talented guy like Marcus. I forget the interview now and see what I see on the pitch.”
United are said to be open to selling Rashford in 2025 for around £40m, lowering their previous valuation of £100m in a bid to convince clubs to make a move for an out-of-form striker who earns more than £300,000-a-week.
Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is prepared to walk away from the whole situationis happy to let Amorim deal with selection issues despite the conundrum his continued omission of Rashford may cause.