“Next game, new week, new life,” was Ruben Amorim’s message to Marcus Rashford after dropping him from the squad for Sunday’s Manchester derby.
And Rashford appears willing to take up his manager on at least part of that offer, except that his ‘new life’ could be somewhere other than Old Trafford.
“For me, personally, I think I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps,” was the 27-year-old’s response on Tuesday, in an interview with journalist Henry Winter.
For United’s highest-profile player to openly suggest he is prepared to leave the club represents a major point in Amorim’s first few weeks as manager and a potential breaking point in Rashford’s Old Trafford career.
Having been part of the United set-up since he was seven years old, Rashford could now be entering the final weeks or months of his long association with his boyhood club. Yet as one of United’s highest earners, it is not entirely clear where he may end up.
What’s happened?
Rashford’s future as a United player has been under the microscope since he was surprisingly left out of the squad for Sunday’s win over Manchester City at the Etihad despite being available to play. Alejandro Garnacho was also omitted from the squad.
After a remarkable late 2-1 victory, Amorim insisted that the pair had not been dropped for disciplinary reasons and instead said that in a more general sense, neither Rashford nor Garnacho were meeting standards expected of United players.
Amorim suggested he had dropped Rashford in an attempt to spark a reaction from him. “For so long, for example with Rash, you try a thing, it doesn’t work,” he said. “Let’s continue to do the same thing? Or something different?”
On Tuesday, Rashford took part in an interview at his old primary school in Wythenshawe, south Manchester. When asked whether he intends to stay or leave United, Rashford suggested he was ready for a “new challenge” and to take the “next steps” in his career.
“When I leave it’s going to be ‘no hard feelings’. You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United. That’s me as a person,” he told Winter.
Rashford added: “If I know that a situation is already bad, I’m not going to make it worse. I’ve seen how other players have left in the past and I don’t want to be that person. When I leave I’ll make a statement and it will be from me.”
Why might Rashford want to leave?
Rashford is a boyhood United fan and has been part of the club’s setup since he was seven years old. When asked by Winter if he will always ‘be a Red’, Rashford said: “Yes! 100%.”
But he has also struggled for consistency throughout his United career since sensationally breaking through as a teenager under Louis van Gaal’s management in 2016.
Rashford has broken the 20-goal barrier in all competitions in three of his eight full seasons as a United player but only once in the last three.
Injuries have played their part — he has been known to play through the pain of back and shoulder problems — but Rashford’s performances have at times underwhelmed, leading him to lose his status as an England regular.
As well as his displays on the pitch being scrutinised, attention has also been drawn towards his social life.
Earlier this year, The Athletic revealed that Rashford had partied in Belfast the night before he reported himself as too ill to attend a Friday morning training session ahead of an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Newport County.
United had previously been informed that Rashford was only out in the Northern Irish capital earlier on the Wednesday night, not the Thursday. Rashford was not included in the squad to play Newport and, after subsequent meetings with club officials, United said he had “taken responsibility for his actions”.
Earlier that season, Rashford had apologised to Ten Hag for visiting a Manchester nightclub after United’s defeat in a Manchester derby. In December 2022, he was dropped by his former manager after missing a team meeting due to oversleeping.
After the Belfast incident, Sir Dave Brailsford held one-to-one talks with Rashford at the player’s request which elicited a response and led him to open the scoring in a 4-3 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers later that week.
The 27-year-old has scored seven goals in his 24 appearances so far this season, including a brace earlier this month in a 4-0 victory over Everton. But without a clear role in United’s new 3-4-3 system and with Amorim challenging him to improve his standards, he has now openly entertained the possibility of leaving.
What’s Manchester United’s position?
Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday morning, Amorim chose to interpret Rashford’s desire for a ‘new challenge’ as compatible with him staying at United, getting back to his best and helping the club compete for and win major honours again.
“We have here a new challenge,” he said. “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.”
Rashford’s remarks were in answer to a question about his future, however. When asked if he would be happy to keep Rashford at the club, Amorim said: “Of course, because this kind of club needs big talent and he’s a big talent.
“He just needs to perform at the highest level and that is my focus. I just want to help Marcus.”
Amorim was, at that time, yet to speak with Rashford but said he would be “ready” for Thursday’s Carabao Cup tie away to Tottenham Hotspur. Yet while Garnacho was later pictured on Wednesday travelling with the squad to London, Rashford was not.
Among the club’s hierarchy, there has been a willingness to countenance offers for Rashford and an openness towards his departure for some time.
United are not thought to be rushing to sell Rashford in January but, as The Athletic reported earlier this year, they would consider his departure if they receive a substantial offer. Attracting such an offer may be easier said than done, however.
What is Rashford’s contract situation?
Rashford signed a new five-year contract during the summer of 2023, after arguably his best individual season as a United player. At the time, he only had a year remaining on his existing deal.
Rashford’s current contract expires in the summer of 2028, without the club option of an additional year that is usually included in United’s contracts.
In signing that deal, Rashford became one of United’s highest-paid players, at the time entering the same bracket as multiple Champions League winners Casemiro and Raphael Varane.
After scoring 30 goals in 56 appearances across all competitions that season, and considering the risk of him leaving as a free agent in 12 months’ time, there was little argument against United tying down Rashford’s future.
Yet that contract is now a significant obstacle to any departure, with Rashford’s salary of more than £325,000 per week ($413,000) making a move prohibitive for many clubs.
With more than three years remaining on his contract, United would also be within their rights to command a significant transfer fee, although club sources have played down suggestions of a £40million asking price.
Which clubs are interested in signing him?
As it stands, those “next steps” Rashford speaks of would be into the unknown. There is not an obvious market for a player at his level of transfer fee and salary who simultaneously has enough question marks over his form.
Paris Saint-Germain have long been linked with Rashford. The Ligue 1 club’s president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, described Rashford as “really amazing” during the 2022 World Cup and entertained the possibility of signing him as a free agent later that year if United allowed his contract to expire.
That interest is believed to have cooled significantly, however, and people familiar with the matter at the Parc des Princes, speaking anonymously like others in this article, have distanced themselves from such speculation in light of Rashford’s remarks.
Barcelona were touted as a potential destination in the past but at present, Camp Nou officials are struggling to register Dani Olmo for the second half of the campaign due La Liga’s salary limits and a €60m black hole in their finances.
Any possible move to Serie A is less likely since Italian clubs no longer benefit from tax breaks which facilitated signing elite talents from Europe’s other major leagues.
Even if the financial parameters of any deal were not a stumbling block, the likes of Inter, Milan and Napoli are generally well stocked in Rashford’s preferred positions, while Juventus have priorities elsewhere.
A move to Turkey or Major League Soccer would perhaps be seen as premature for a 27-year-old of his ability and there are doubts over whether clubs in either could match Rashford’s salary.
Perhaps the only league where a move makes sense from that perspective is the Saudi Pro League. Rio Ferdinand, the former United defender, has alerted contacts in the Saudi Pro League to Rashford’s availability.
People briefed on the matter in the Gulf state say Saudi clubs are being more selective in the players they target, however, and believing the stock of English talent has fallen, do not expect a market to emerge for Rashford for the time being.
Could the club subsidise his departure?
Wantaway players publicly professing their unhappiness is not an especially new phenomenon at Old Trafford.
Two years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo gave an excoriating interview to journalist Piers Morgan in which he criticised Ten Hag and United’s hierarchy while claiming that he was being forced out of the club.
Ronaldo subsequently left by mutual consent, but only after United had initially launched a legal process against the five-time Ballon d’Or winner for breach of contract. Ronaldo departed without a payoff.
Rashford’s remarks were a world apart from Ronaldo’s, however, and entirely respectful of his manager, his team-mates and United as a club.
A better parallel is the case of Jadon Sancho, who was allowed to join Borussia Dortmund on loan for the second half of last season after being frozen out of United’s first-team picture.
Dortmund contributed the majority of Sancho’s salary, believed to be more than £200,000 a week, with United receiving performance related bonus payments.
Sancho is currently on loan at Chelsea, who are also contributing the majority of Sancho’s salary and have an obligation to sign the 24-year-old permanently if certain triggers are met.
Again, Rashford’s comments were nowhere near as incendiary as the public criticism of Ten Hag which led to Sancho’s exile.
But United could once again find themselves in a position where they are struggling to attract a permanent buyer for a wantaway player. A temporary move that involves each club taking on a portion of his salary may suit all parties best.
What are the PSR implications of him leaving?
As an academy graduate, Rashford’s sale would represent ‘pure profit’ in United’s accounting books and go a long way to helping achieve compliance with the Premier League and UEFA’s financial regulations.
United need to be mindful of their PSR position after posting a £130.7m pre-tax loss in their most recent set of full-year accounts.
The Old Trafford club have not recorded a profit since the 2018-19 season, which has led to cost-cutting measures being implemented across the club since Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a minority stake.
United insist that they remain committed to and compliant with financial fair play rules, but nevertheless sold Rashford’s fellow academy graduate Scott McTominay to Napoli during the summer, despite Ten Hag’s preference for him to stay.
“Unfortunately, it’s the rules,” Ten Hag said on McTominay’s departure. “You have to discuss the rules to do sales. Obviously homegrown players, academy players, bring more value.”
Additional reporting: Laurie Whitwell, Mark Carey
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
