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It was a conversation with Ruben Amorim at the start of December that goes some way to explaining why Marcus Rashford has been absent from the Manchester United side for the past five matches.
United had just beaten Everton 4-0, with Rashford scoring two of the goals in a vibrant display on Sunday, December 1. But after that game, Amorim heard the forward had been out in Manchester on the Friday night, November 29, less than 48 hours before Everton’s visit to Old Trafford.
The United head coach does not want his players in bars so close to games and asked Rashford about his movements. The England international assured Amorim he had been misinformed about a late night.
Since then, Rashford’s only start has come at Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League, a 2-1 win for United on December 12. After that, he was left out of four successive matchday squads.
That Amorim appeared to believe United had a better chance of staging a comeback victory with Rashford in a seat in the dugout rather than on the pitch speaks to the wider issues at play.
On Friday, Amorim confirmed Rashford had not trained this week due to illness and would likely be missing from the trip to Liverpool tomorrow. The striker’s future has now become one of the biggest issues confronting United in this transfer window.
It is a complicated situation, but one thing seems clear: Rashford’s prospects of an imminent return to favour under Amorim look bleak.
Since their talk after the Everton game, Amorim has given Rashford 118 minutes of football out of a possible 720.
Last summer, new United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wanted to get Rashford firing. His salary, which runs until 2028, places him among the highest earners, and Ratcliffe wants value for money. But little appears to have changed in the past six months and so United have changed tack, endorsing Amorim’s decision to leave Rashford out.
Finding a club willing to match his current wages and part with a transfer fee appears implausible, unless he moves to Saudi Arabia’s Pro League. Such a proposition is not thought to appeal to Rashford at this stage of his career, which is looked after by his brothers and representatives Dwaine Maynard and Dane Rashford. He also has assistance from a personal PR assistant.
There was further intrigue at Companies House, the UK’s register of companies, where Rashford’s MUCS Investments Limited was issued with a striking-off notice for being two months late to file accounts for 2023-24. The notice states that if the company is dissolved, all properties and rights held are deemed to be bona vacantia and will belong to the Crown.
Rashford’s view on possibly leaving United comes after two of his best friends in the dressing room departed during the summer, as Sancho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka signed for Chelsea and West Ham United respectively. He is close with Tyrell Malacia, but has tested the patience of other team-mates at times.
Amorim has said he wants to see a change in Rashford, but the forward is waiting for his return to the team, which has now stretched to five games.
Sources report his training levels have been mixed, with some good days and occasional bouts of illness. He was unwell and off work on the Monday after the derby, before attending Button Lane, the primary school he went to, to give out gifts to children and speak in an interview about his position at United. Rashford has also been absent from training for the past two days, which United say was sanctioned owing to illness.
His running statistics are slightly up on his career norms. Rashford is covering 10.2km on average per 90 minutes in the 2024-25 Premier League, compared to 9.97km and 9.57km in the previous two seasons, according to Opta. His top speed of 35.35km/h is similar to his past best, while he is making 21.33 sprints per 90, compared to 19.28 and 20.26 in 2023-24 and 2022-23 respectively.
Overall, Rashford has 138 goals in 426 matches for United, placing him 13th in the all-time list, seven behind Cristiano Ronaldo in 12th.
There can be no doubting his quality, but people at United talk about Rashford’s attitude needing to shift to meet the standards required and how, having turned 27 in late October, he should be setting an example for the younger players.
Are his off-field choices impacting the level he can reach when the whistle blows on matchday? Until Amorim and his team sense a meaningful improvement, the prospect of a continued absence, or a departure, will remain.
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