
Manchester United
Premier League • England
Gary Neville in complete U-turn over Marcus Rashford future at Man Utd as Ruben Amorim ‘protects himself’

Neville has revealed his theory about Rashford and Amorim
Gary Neville believes a January transfer away from Manchester United is now looking ‘inevitable’ for Marcus Rashford after Ruben Amorim explained his decision to once again leave the forward out.
Rashford was left out of Man Utd’s squad for the third time in a row for Sunday’s fixture against Bournemouth. As the January transfer window gets closer, it has only amplified talk of him being about to leave the club for the first time in his career.
TEAMtalk sources have insisted Rashford’s future is likely to lie away from Man Utd. Several clubs have been ruled out of the running for his signature, but nevertheless, an exit is expected.
And former Man Utd defender Neville now claims the constant theme of Rashford being left out by Amorim is a sign that ‘something is going really wrong’ with regards to the 27-year-old.
“It’s something of the norm,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “A pattern now developed over the past week.
“It was a surprise last weekend, but I think obviously now it’s getting to a point whereby you leave him out three games on the bounce, something really is going wrong or has gone wrong.
“It’s not looking great for both Marcus’ future at the club and Manchester United keeping him either. I suspect it’s getting to that point in the journey where it looks like it’s got an inevitable ending.”
And asked if he expects Rashford’s departure to be as early as January, Neville admitted he has completely changed his expectations.
“If you said to me seven or eight days ago, I’d have said absolutely no chance. As I stand here today now, I think yeah,” Neville said.
“One thing that’s happened in the past, with players at United or any big club, when it’s getting to the point whereby you’re talking to me about this every single week and it’s a distraction for the manager, and it becomes a focal point of the press conference, it does become obvious that then he has to leave and the club want him to leave. It’ll probably work for both parties.
“There are good examples as well of players who’ve struggled at United, Jadon Sancho’s gone to Chelsea, he’s doing better, Scott McTominay wasn’t struggling at United but he’s left to go to Napoli, he’s doing well, so Marcus might think it’s the right thing for him as well.”
With 138 goals for the club from 426 appearances, Rashford has had far from a poor Man Utd career. However, his performances over the past season and a half have left a lot to be desired.
And Neville believes Amorim leaving Rashford out could be the new head coach’s way of protecting his own job, given what has gone before with similar players.
“Something has to change at Manchester United,” Neville insisted. “We’ve been watching a lot of the same players, over the last four or five years, deliver the same results. We’ve talked about the culture a number of times.
“If there are players that aren’t quite fitting in, for one reason or another, if they’ve not got good enough quality, they have to be let go.
“Ruben Amorim knows now, five managers before him have fallen, and some of those managers have shown faith in these same players, so I think it’s a case of he’s got to protect himself and do the right thing for the club and himself.”
Ruben Amorim explains leaving Marcus Rashford out
Amorim gave Rashford the nod to lead the line for Man Utd in his first match in charge, but it was a false dawn.
In total, Rashford has played six times under Amorim, but not in the past three games.
Asked ahead of the Bournemouth match if the decision to leave Rashford out has been influenced by anyone else, Amorim was clear in his response.
“No, that is not possible,” he insisted. “It’s my decision and it always will be.
“It’s selection, I want to see the best of my players and I try different things with different players, so that’s my focus.”
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