Ruben Amorim admitted he’s “a little bit emotional” when asked about Marcus Rashford’s bombshell announcement and played his cards close to his chest with his focus on Manchester United’s clash with Tottenham on Thursday.
Rashford told journalist Henry Winter on Tuesday that he was “ready for a new challenge” on the back of being dropped for United’s 2-1 win over Manchester City on Sunday.
Amorim was predictably asked multiple questions about Rashford ahead of their Carabao Cup tie with Spurs, including what he would have done had he found himself in a similar position to the England international during his playing career.
“I would speak with the manager,” he said.
“It’s hard to explain what I am going to do. I’m a little bit emotional,” added Amorim about Rashford’s interview. “I need to prepare for the game and then we will see. Let’s focus on the team, not individual players.”
Rashford has been left out of the squad travelling to London on Wednesday ahead of the Spurs game, having reportedly withdrawn from training due to illness on Monday.
Amorim was then asked how he plans to sort the situation.
“It’s a hard situation to comment [on],” he said. “If I give a lot of importance it will have big headlines in the papers and if I say it’s not a problem then my standards are getting low. My focus is to not take the attention away from the game and the team and what we did in the last game.”
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Reports ahead of the Manchester derby claimed Amorim was willing to sell Rashford as he looks to rebuild the Red Devils squad, with the academy graduate an attractive player to send packing given his sale would be pure profit.
But on Wednesday the head coach urged Rashford to embrace the “biggest challenge” of remaining at Old Trafford.
“I don’t control that, what I can control is the way I see things to take my players to the games and the training,” Amorim said, adding that he has not discussed Rashford’s long-term future with the club’s executives. “The interview was [Tuesday]. I’m focused on Tottenham and my focus is to prepare the team for that game. Nothing has changed, we believe in Marcus.
“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. I really hope all my players are ready for this new challenge.”
Amorim’s team for Sunday’s derby win was leaked in advance but says he will take no action to discover how that happened.
“Nowadays all of the coaches know about it,” he said. “I explained a lot about the team, how I want us to play, the positions etc, because I understand that the coaches have that information just one time seeing how Manchester United play.
“I also cannot control [leaks]. It’s more important for my players to go to a game with a clear idea of how to do it than try to prevent the leaking of the starting XI.”
