(Image: 2022 Manchester United FC)
Manchester United should be riding high after their derby win at the Etihad Stadium.
As Manchester City's crisis deepens, United have a springboard to kick on under new boss Ruben Amorim, who was justified in his eye-catching pre-match decision to leave Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of his derby day squad.
Now, Rashford has hit back by talking about 'when' he leaves United and being open to a new challenge. It seems like the City omission was the final straw for him. Amorim has responded by leaving the door open for his number ten, navigating the difficult situation diplomatically - in public at least.
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Amorim may not be looking to Pep Guardiola for any tactical advice at the moment, especially with two wins over City in his last nine games. But he will perhaps look over to the Etihad for how to deal with a high profile player wanting to leave.
City and Guardiola have a long-held policy that any player looking to leave will be allowed to do so on two conditions. First, that they bring an offer to the club that meets their valuation, and also that City have cover in that position.
The examples of wantaway players at City is a long list. Aymeric Laporte publicly hinted at his unhappiness a number of times before leaving, Cole Palmer's exit was more fast-tracked. Julian Alvarez was the latest in the summer. Riyad Mahrez, Joao Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling have all left the club in recent seasons, too.
All of those players have made huge headlines with their wishes to leave, but City have coped without them fine enough and earned millions in the process. Guardiola prioritises a smaller, happier squad (until recent weeks anyway) over a disjointed one with 'unhappy flowers' to paraphrase one of his famous rants.
On the other hand, City hold firm on players who want to leave but doing so wouldn't benefit the club. They let Eric Garcia run down his contract and leave on a free because they felt they needed him for another year and Barcelona didn't meet City's clear valuation.
Leroy Sane stayed a year after Bayern Munich first started bidding, albeit partly down to a season-long injury. Bernardo Silva has long wanted to move somewhere warmer, but has never been able to find a club prepared to meet City's valuation.
Bernardo is perhaps a good example for Rashford to follow. He has made his stance clear, and now he can work on securing a move in the background while knuckling down in training.
Amorim has said the right things in his first press conference, and will show his true feelings with his upcoming team selections. If he follows Guardiola's lead, Rashford's explosive admission doesn't have to lead to a bad-tempered exit.