Marcus Rashford scored in both of his first two games under new head coach Ruben Amorim, including a brace against Everton. However, he has not been included in the Manchester United starting lineup in the Premier League since then.
After coming on as a substitute against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, the England international was left out of the next three Premier League games. Rashford was also left out of the Red Devils' Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat by Tottenham. He returned to the squad for the match against Newcastle at the end of December but was not able to play.
Rashford was rumored to leave in January when he admitted that he was ready for a new challenge. Currently, the British media is buzzing about the initial disagreement that caused this striker to be left out of the starting lineup and eventually the entire Man United squad.
"We try to evaluate players based on their training performance, performance, teamwork, and motivation to move forward. Everything is affected when we analyze and try to select players. That's my choice. It's simple.
I don't want to send a message that it's just an assessment and they know that. The players are really, really smart. Everyone understands my decision and I have to choose. It was a simple choice," Amorim said when asked about the decision to leave Rashford and Garnacho out of the Manchester derby.
According to The Athletic, Amorim learned that Rashford had been at a Manchester bar less than 48 hours before the 4-0 win over Everton. The striker is said to have assured the Portuguese strategist that this was not true. Amorim has also directly asked Rashford about this issue.
The Manchester derby was the first match in which Rashford was completely absent, with Alejandro Garnacho also not in the starting lineup. However, Garnacho has returned to play from the bench in recent weeks, while Rashford has been overlooked.
Rashford is said to have rejected the attention of the Saudi Pro League as the goal is still to return to the England team. Rashford has only joined a club and a competitive tournament to give him a chance to return to the "Three Lions" under Thomas Tuchel. The 27-year-old striker is also waiting for a signal from Amorim and will give his all if he is on the field.
"I've talked too much about Rashford. But it will depend on him more than me. Rashford needs to prove that he really wants to play. At the moment, he is still a Man United player and must always be ready for all my decisions" - the Portuguese strategist added.
