Marcus Rashford has spoken of the possibility of leaving Manchester United by saying he is “ready for a new challenge”.
The 27-year-old was left out of United’s squad for their 2-1 derby victory over Manchester City on Sunday, with head coach Ruben Amorim saying he had considered “Everything: training, performance, game performance, engagement with the team-mates, pushing the team-mates up” in his decision to omit the forward, along with Alejandro Garnacho.
In an interview posted on X by English football journalist Henry Winter, Rashford said it was “disheartening” to be left out of the match.
“We won the game so let’s move on,” he said. “It’s disappointing but I’m also someone as I’ve got older I can deal with setbacks.
“What am I going to do about it? Sit there and cry about it. Or do my best the next time I’m available.”
Asked whether he is now more likely to stay or leave the club, Rashford replied: “For me, personally, I think I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps.”
He added: “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. 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.”
Rashford had featured in all 15 of United’s Premier League games so far this season before being dropped.
Amorim maintained Rashford and Garnacho’s omissions were not for disciplinary reasons: “If it was, I would say that here, and it will be a bigger problem.”
“We try to evaluate training performance, game performances, engagement with team-mates,” he added. “Everything is on the line when we analyse and try to choose the players. I pay attention to the way you eat, the way you put your clothes to go to a game.”
In November 2022, Rashford was left out of the starting lineup for a game at Wolverhampton Wanderers by former manager Erik ten Hag for “internal disciplinary” reasons. It later emerged he had overslept and been late for a team meeting.
He has scored 138 goals in 426 appearances having come through the club’s academy.
The 60-cap England international was one the most high-profile omissions from Gareth Southgate’s squad for the European Championship in Germany.
Amorim showed his teeth with Rashford and Garnacho – and will be emboldened by the result
‘A seismic moment’
Analysis by Mark Critchley
For Rashford to publicly entertain the possibility of leaving United is a seismic moment in his Old Trafford career and potentially represents a break in his relationship with his boyhood club.
His remarks come at the most uncertain period of his time at the club, just days after he was left out of the United squad for Sunday’s Manchester derby by Amorim despite being available.
Even while couching his words in respect for an institution that he has been a part of since the age of seven, it is about as clear a message as any player is likely to give that they are minded to leave.
Amorim will have the opportunity to respond to Rashford’s remarks at a press conference at Carrington on Wednesday morning.
Whether there are suitors ready to fulfil Rashford’s wish for a fresh start is an open question, though — his status as one of United’s highest earners, on a contract which will only expire in 2028, makes any exit complicated.
And it may only be complicated further by Rashford making his desire to leave public. If these are to be the final weeks or months of his time at United, they could be messy.
(Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
