Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim has left Marcus Rashford out for three straight games
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is happy to leave Marcus Rashford in limbo as the January transfer window approaches.
Rashford was once again not included in United’s squad for their embarrassing 3-0 defeat against Bournemouth on Sunday. He has now been absent for the past three matches and was sat in the Old Trafford stands in a club tracksuit as his side lost again.
The 27-year-old forward has admitted he is ready for a new challenge and United are ready to sell, if their £40million valuation is met in January. Publicly, Amorim has insisted that Rashford’s United career is not yet over, but speaking after the Bournemouth loss, he refused to give him any clarity.
“It’s my decision and it always will be,” Amorim said. “It is selection. I want to see the best of my players and I try different things with different players. That’s my focus.”
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United are 13th in the Premier League, having won just six of their 17 matches this season, and face a must-win trip to Molineux to face struggling Wolves on Boxing Day. Amorim has left Rashford out of the 2-1 derby win over Manchester City, the 4-3 Carabao Cup loss to Spurs and the Bournemouth humbling, but wouldn’t confirm if his exile would continue against Wolves. He said: “It depends. We will see.”
Amorim may be keeping the possibility of a reintegration on the table, but United legend Gary Neville believes that Rashford is as good as gone. “It is not really big team news any more,” he said on Sunday. “It is something of a norm – a pattern has developed over the last week. It was a surprise last weekend.
"It is getting to the point where you leave him out three games on the bounce something really is obviously going wrong or has gone wrong. And it is not looking great for both Marcus' future at the club or Manchester United keeping him either.
Marcus Rashford's last appearance came against Viktoria Plzen on December 12
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"I suspect it is getting to that point in the journey where it has got an inevitable ending. It is a distraction for the manager. It does become obvious that he probably has to leave and that the club want him to leave – it will probably work for both parties.”
Neville also suggested that a departure from his boyhood club could suit Rashford. He added: There are good examples as well of players who have struggled at United. Jadon Sancho has gone to Chelsea and is doing better, Scott McTominay wasn't struggling but he left to go to Napoli and he is doing well, so Marcus might think it is the right thing for him as well."
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