What if the problem with Marcus Rashford isn’t Marcus Rashford but Manchester United? Jadon Sancho may have made Arsenal’s mind up.

‘It won’t last.’ A message from a Manchester United-supporting pal after – as a Chelsea fan – I thanked him for Jadon Sancho. I left it there. As a dad of two, including a newborn, he’s got enough on his mind during those long sleepless nights without me labouring over what is evidently a sore subject for so many Red Devils.

What I would have demanded of a less-stressed United fan was any evidence that Sancho at Chelsea is a mere flash in the pan. What in Sancho’s past suggests this is a temporary uplift ahead of a crushing low? His answer could only have been what happened at Manchester United.

Brilliant at Borussia Dortmund, brilliant again on his return to Borussia Dortmund and now – with his stunning goal and excellent performance in the 4-3 win over Tottenham his crowning moment – very good at Chelsea.

I don’t wish to further my friend’s despair in a time of great stress, and believe it’s in his best interests to reach the inevitable epiphany himself, watching whichever Manchester United forward prompts a pile-on from the fanbase through their performance against Viktoria Plzen on Thursday night and asking: “Are we the baddies?”

Odds are that forward will be Marcus Rashford. Reports suggest Ruben Amorim is willing to see the back of the England international, who is an attractive candidate to send packing for whichever member of the rag-tag Manchester United directorship now has their hand on the transfer tiller as a ‘pure profit’ sale; which may delay Sir Jim Ratcliffe from dishonouring the Busby Babes or giving the finger to disabled supporters for the time being.

He’s been really poor for a good while now, scoring just 15 goals in 66 appearances since the start of last season, with his profligacy possibly more excusable to fans than his apparent blasé attitude to playing for Manchester United.

It really does now feel as though a transfer is Rashford and the club’s only recourse, with the perceived threat of exclusion from his coach’s ill-suited 3-4-3 now all but confirmed through Rashford’s displays under the Portuguese coach, despite flattering to deceive with three goals in the opening two Premier League games of his tenure.

Rashford being on the bench for the two games against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest between which Amorim claimed he was “close to knowing my best line-up” is telling.

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We don’t sign up to the view that it’s Paris Saint-Germain, Saudi Arabia or bust for Rashford, particularly at just £40m.

Joe Cole reckons he would be “a hell of a signing” for a Premier League side and – like Danny Murphy – believes Arsenal should be in the running for him. “There would be some people who would take Rashford over [Gabriel] Martinelli,” Murphy said.

And actually, Rashford might look at the struggles of Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, the stuttering form of Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz, and Mikel Arteta’s failure to reignite Raheem Sterling, and wonder whether the Emirates is the best place to relaunch his career. Being a set-piece block-man might not be the greatest lure.

READ MORE: Jakub Kiwior makes ‘no sense’ but Gabriel Jesus does as Arsenal v Monaco flags need for £62m upgrade

We can absolutely see why Arsenal would be interested though. An in-form Rashford on the opposite flank to a permanently in-form Bukayo Saka is an enticing prospect. And like the rest of us, they will be looking at Sancho’s revival at Chelsea and wondering whether they can work similar magic with Rashford.

We say magic but there’s no wand or potion required when the apparent fix is as simple as Not Being At Manchester United.

“From the very first day, [Chelsea] made me feel welcome. I know I have a lot of people to prove wrong,” Sancho said after his starring role against Tottenham. And maybe it will be as simple as that for Arsenal or whoever else takes a reasoned punt on Rashford. Give him a fresh start, make him feel loved and give him an opportunity to silence his critics away from the majority of those critics.

Because as is clearly the case with Sancho – whose poor form at Old Trafford people blamed on managers, the Premier League, his price tag and the player himself – the problem with Rashford may not be be anything other than Manchester United.

Sheikh Jassim reportedly ‘can still offer INEOS an exit route’ from Manchester United after he had a ‘three-day plan’ to ‘revolutionise’ Old Trafford.

Towards the end of 2023, the Glazer family put Man Utd up for sale and this prolonged process dragged on for over a year until a resolution was reached.

INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatar’s Jassim emerged as the standout candidates to buy Man Utd and they tussled for months before the British billionaire won the race to buy a stake in Man Utd.

Jassim and his team submitted several bids to Man Utd and were only interested in a full takeover. Ratcliffe initially intended to buy a majority stake, but he eventually amended his offer and purchased a 27.7% stake.

At the start of this year, Ratcliffe’s arrival was confirmed and he took control of footballing operations at Old Trafford.

This was viewed a much-needed fresh start for the Red Devils, but Ratcliffe has had a rough first year at Man Utd.

READ: Ranking Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Man Utd mistakes: 1) Dan Ashworth, 7) Busby Babes, 13) Being a Grinch

Ratcliffe’s arrival was met with immense positivity, but this has quickly subsided as he has made controversial decisions. He has sanctioned mass redundancies, hiked ticket prices, taken Sir Alex Ferguson’s global ambassador role away and scrapped their staff Christmas party.

The INEOS supremo is being heavily criticised and a report from The Daily Mail claims Jassim ‘planned to revolutionise Man United in just three days’ if his takeover was successful.

‘The situation is being monitored closely but there is no gloating here in Doha, only deep sadness and a regret over what might have been.

‘It was, Mail Sport can reveal, not meant to be like this. Plans for the rebirth of Manchester United, fuelled by vast wealth and some of the finest sporting and finance brains on the planet, had already been carefully drafted.

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‘The strategy for ‘Project Ruby’ as they had named it, went like this:

‘Day One: Announce takeover.

‘Day Two: Announce that all debt has been removed, that the club has been taken off the New York Stock Exchange and that it is no longer answerable to far-away stakeholders.

‘Day Three: Announce fully-funded plans for new stadium. As simple as that. Three days to change the club’s history. In one quick movement, the life-sucking debt burden on United’s proud shoulders – a legacy of a leveraged takeover that is estimated to have cost the club close to £1bn to service – lifted in a heartbeat. A clean break. As for the stadium, there would be no attempt to grab any money from the taxpayer or confusion over whether this would be a refurbishment or a rebuild. The funds were in place to build one of the biggest and best venues on the planet.’

The detailed report also boldly claims ‘Jassim can still offer INEOS an exit route’ as he is ‘still there’.

‘Perhaps, however, this is not the end of the story. ‘Sheikh Jassim is still a rich guy,’ explained one advisor. ‘He is still a United fan. He is not going to rush off and try another Premier League club.

‘If the opportunity to buy the whole of Manchester United arose again at some point in the future it is hard to see there not being a big level of interest. The plans are still there.’

Man Utd legend Roy Keane insists he “wasn’t angry” after he offered to meet an Ipswich Town fan in the car park earlier this season.

Keane was in attendance as the Tractor Boys came from a goal down to draw 1-1 against Man Utd in Ruben Amorim’s first match in charge of the Red Devils.

Former Ipswich boss Keane was part of the Sky Sports punditry team that watched as Omari Hutchinson’s deflected long-range strike cancelled out Marcus Rashford’s early opener for Man Utd.

Keane spent around 20 months as the Ipswich manager between 2009 and 2011 in a mixed spell in East Anglia and one Tractor Boys fan had not forgot his time in charge of his club.

The Man Utd legend went over to a group of Ipswich fans, who had been shouting abuse at him after the match, Keane was heard saying: “Wait in the car park, we can have a discussion. I’ll wait for you in the car park.”

Neil Finbow, the fan who Keane offered to meet outside the ground, took to Facebook to describe the incident with Keane to his followers.

Finbow wrote on the social media site: “New claim to fame. Just been offered out into the car park by Roy Keane after a few choice words.

“Even Jamie Redknapp had to come over to get him away. Just your average Sunday evening out.”

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When asked by another user what sparked the altercation last month, Finbow added: “I was reminding him that he set us back five years and ruined our football club.

“I also mentioned how he wasn’t fit to step foot anywhere near our ground [Portman Road].

“Oh, and I mentioned about him walking out on a World Cup and breaking Haaland’s leg and putting it in his autobiography. I hate the bloke, and that’s been boiling up since he got sacked all those years ago.”

Finbow continued on Facebook: “The truth hurts. I feel sick when I look at him.

“Few home truths thrown at him, he decided to bite. Very unprofessional. I’m sure he had worse when he was playing.”

Roy Keane got heated with an Ipswich fan while doing punditry last night 😳

The former Man United captain offered to discuss their argument in the car park 😂 pic.twitter.com/JLidODIMm7

— Dictate Sports (@dictatesport) November 25, 2024

And now Keane has given his side of the story with the Man Utd legend insisting that he didn’t get “angry” during the incident and said the Ipswich fan was “swearing in front of kids”.

Keane said on the Stick To Football podcast: “I wasn’t angry at the Ipswich Town game.

“What happens when we’re doing matches is and the analysis is happening at the end of the match when fans can be up or down, whatever emotions they are feeling – and people think they can abuse you, and it seems to be a, ‘We’re supposed to accept that’.

“I went over to him twice – I said, ‘No problem, if you want to abuse me or if you want a discussion with me, well I’m working’. I went over to him twice at different stages and he was swearing in front of kids.

“I said, ‘If you want to see me afterwards’ – and people thought I was asking him for a [fight] – I said, ‘I’ll see you in the car park’. Where else was I going to see him? He wasn’t there!”

Man Utd have named their price for Marcus Rashford as the Red Devils consider selling their academy graduate in January, according to reports.

The Red Devils have made a terrrible start to the new season with Man Utd currently 13th in the Premier League table after winning just five of their opening 15 matches.

Erik ten Hag lost his job after nine games this season but new head coach Ruben Amorim has struggled to find consistency too, with Man Utd drawing one, winning one and losing two of his first four Premier League matches in charge.

There are issues all over the pitch for the Red Devils but one problem that has been particularly prevalent this season is their lack of goals.

Rashford has scored four goals this term, while Man Utd summer signing Joshua Zirkzee has three and Rasmus Hojlund has two.

Only Southampton, Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace and Everton have scored fewer goals than Man Utd in the Premier League this season and there are rumours that Amorim will look to bring in a new striker in January.

However, lack of funds could see the Red Devils forced to sell in order to make room for another face and reports earlier this week claim Man Utd are willing to listen to offers for Rashford.

Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg said on Tuesday that Man Utd are ‘open to top offers’ for Rashford in January and that the forward is ‘definitely not unsellable’ under Amorim.

While a report in Spain on Wednesday insisted that Amorim ‘wants to release three players’ at Man Utd with Rashford one of the stars he’s ‘forced’ to ‘pack their bags’ at Old Trafford.

And now the Daily Mail has revealed that price that Man Utd are looking for to sell Rashford with the Red Devils prepared to ‘consider offers of £40m’ for the England international.

However, due to the nature of the market, Man Utd ‘accept there are unlikely to be any bidders for the England forward in the January transfer window’.

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With the Red Devils ‘under pressure to sell players to comply with profit and sustainability rules’, Rashford could be sold for a fraction of his value from a couple of years ago.

The Daily Mail add:

‘It’s understood the 27-year-old’s asking price would have been as much as £100m when he scored 30 goals in Erik ten Hag’s first season at United. But Rashford’s loss of form and the contract he signed last year worth a prohibitive £325,000-a-week means that his value has more than halved.

‘Even then, United are not anticipating any offers for Rashford who has started the last two games on the bench ahead of Thursday evening’s Europa League clash with Viktoria Plzen.

‘Another option would be for United to sell either of their two crown jewels – Kobbie Mainoo or Alejandro Garnacho – but that is something the club want to avoid.’