Ruben Amorim’s brutal comments on Marcus Rashford after Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Fulham ‘could backfire’ on the club as a precedent set by Sir Jim Ratcliffe offers encouragement to suitors of a cut-price deal.
Rashford hasn’t featured in any of United’s last 11 games as a result of announcing his desire for a “new challenge” having been dropped for the Manchester derby last month.
Amorim has continually been asked about Rashford’s absence amid interest from the Premier League and abroad in signing him this month, and claimed after victory on Sunday that he would rather play goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital over someone not putting in the hard yards in training.
“It’s the same, it’s always the same reason,” Amorim said. “The reason is the training, the way I see what footballers should do in training, in life, it’s every day, every detail.
“So, if things don’t change, I will not change. It’s the same situation for every player. If you do the maximum, if you do the right things, we can use every player.
“And you can see it today on the bench, we miss a little bit of pace to go and change the game, move some pieces. But I prefer it like that. I will put [Jorge] Vital on before I put a player on that doesn’t give the maximum every day. So, I will not change in that department.”
The Telegraph claim the head coach’s ‘hardline stance’ has ‘encouraged suitors that they might land a cut-price loan deal before the transfer window closes’ with ‘interested parties increasingly of the belief that United may have little choice but to offload the player on the cheap before Monday’s deadline’.
It’s further claimed that co-owner Ratcliffe’s thoughts on Jadon Sancho’s exile under Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag is another factor forcing his exit.
The report adds:
‘United’s rivals are increasingly convinced Amorim wants Rashford out before the transfer window shuts and would not be enamoured by the prospect of having to reintegrate the player if he stayed.
‘Erik ten Hag’s decision to exile Jadon Sancho did not sit comfortably with Sir Jim Ratcliffe when he took over the day-to-day running of the club, with the former manager encouraged to bury the hatchet with the England forward.
‘Similarly, Ratcliffe is unlikely to be willing to stand by and see Rashford frozen out over the second half of the season at a time when United are struggling for goals. Such a scenario could also damage the club’s hopes of finding a permanent buyer for Rashford at a good price in the summer.’
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Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand doesn’t believe there is a way back for Rashford after Amorim’s scathing criticism.
Speaking on his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Ferdinand said: “If I was that player that the manager said that about, my heart, my pride, my ego – embarrassment.
“For someone to question your application, to question (whether) you’re going out there and giving 100 per cent for your team, (suggesting) that you’re going to slack off and you’re taking shortcuts…
“We all have days off or moments when we’re not performing well, lacking confidence, but effort isn’t really one of the things I would want to be hearing a manager say is lacking in my makeup.
“That’s a damning comment, because I think he knows what the reaction is after that comment. He’s not saying that without thinking, ‘Where does this go after?’ There’s really no way back for Marcus after that, I don’t think, with that type of comment.
“You’re looking at it and going, ‘He (Amorim, who took charge in November) has only been there a short bit of time and he’s actually straight away gone, he’s pulled out the nine-millimetre revolver and just gone bang’. There’s no way back from that.
“If he comes back, that means other players can now take their foot off the gas and still have a way back into the team.”
