Rashford with his head in his hand
Marcus Rashford's absence from United's squad at Tottenham is down to selection
Ruben Amorim has left Marcus Rashford out of a Manchester United matchday squad for the second time in a week, with the academy graduate considered fit and available for the Carabao Cup quarter-final at Tottenham.
Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were dropped from the squad for the derby win at Manchester City on Sunday, but while Garnacho is back on the bench in North London, Rashford has once again been left at home.
The 27-year-old missed training through illness on Monday, but attended an event at his old school on Tuesday and gave an interview to journalist Henry Winter in which he revealed he was ready to leave the club.
He wasn't spotted with the rest of the squad departing Stockport train station on Wednesday and after United's team dropped at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the club confirmed his absence was once again a selection-based decision.
During the interview on Tuesday, Rashford was asked if he would be "staying or going"‘ and replied: “For me, personally, I think I'm ready for a new challenge and the next steps."
Amorim held his pre-Tottenham press conference early on Wednesday morning and hadn't spoken to the player at that point, but stressed he wanted him to stay at the club.
"I think it’s right," Amorim said when asked about Rashford's reference to a new challenge. "We have here a new challenge. It’s a tough one, for me it’s the biggest challenge in football because we are in a difficult situation and I already said this is one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"This is a really new challenge and the biggest one. I really hope all my players are ready for this new challenge.
"No, [I haven't spoken to Rashford] yet. It was yesterday, I gave the day off to the lads, so he’s our player and he’s ready for the next game.
"I spoke with a lot of players individually and during training. What I want is to take the best stuff of Marcus Rashford as the player so I don’t talk about the future, I just talk about the present.
"I want the best of each one of them and that is the key point for me. I just want to win and to help the team be better. We are better with Marcus Rashford, that is simple and we will try different things to push Marcus to the best levels he showed in the past. And that’s all.
"Of course (I would be happy to keep him), because this kind of club needs big talent and he’s a big talent. So he just needs to perform at the highest level and that is my focus. I just want to help Marcus."
Matthijs de Ligt is also absent from the squad at Tottenham, but United have confirmed the central defender is unwell.