Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Rashford tipped to STAY at Man Utd with Ratcliffe urged to slap colossal asking price to detract suitors

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Marcus Rashford, Man Utd

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Manchester United star Marcus Rashford

Manchester United have been urged to derail Marcus Rashford’s wish to leave Old Trafford by slapping a nine-figure asking price on his head with Sir Jim Ratcliffe told why they need to keep him at all costs and with Fabrizio Romano providing an update on his potential exit plan.

The Red Devils forward has been headline news this week after being left out of their matchday squad for Sunday’s impressive 2-1 victory at Manchester City and then, amid a barrel-load of speculation over his future, finally coming clean on his his wish to leave Manchester United for the good of his career.

“For me, personally, I think I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps,” Henry Winter quotes Rashford as saying during a visit to his old primary school, Button Lane, to hand out Christmas presents.

“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.”

However, with Ruben Amorim quickly going public on his wish for Rashford to stay and reconsider his exit wishes, former United striker Teddy Sheringham has told Ratcliffe to further derail his quest to depart by slapping an eye-watering £100m price tag on his head.

“Oh, you’ve got to be talking £100m,” Sheringham told Express Sport.

“I’m very surprised that there’s talk about him leaving United. I think Man Utd need to keep their best players and get them working to the best of their capabilities. So I’d be very surprised if Marcus leaves.”

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Amorim makes clear wish to keep Rashford as Fabrizio Romano has his say

Despite Rashford’s very clear wish to leave, Amorim insists he still hopes he can persuade Rashford to stay and has urged the 60-times capped England man to reconsider his future.

“Of course, because this kind of club needs big talent and he’s a big talent, so he just needs to perform at the highest level and that is my focus. I just want to help Marcus,” Amorim told a press conference on Wednesday to preview Thursday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final trip to Tottenham.

“We are better with Marcus Rashford, that is simple and we will try different things to push Marcus to the best levels he showed in the past. And that’s all.”

Amorim also played down the impact of Rashford’s comments on the squad. “I think they are more simple than that, they focus on their job, everyone, all of the players,” he insisted. “I was a player and we were a little bit selfish so they are focused on their job to win a place in the team. I don’t think it’s had an impact on the team.”

Speculation on where Rashford will end up next has already gathered some pace, though transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists there have been no firm offers for his services.

“On Rashford, there’s of course concrete possibility to leave in 2025, for sure; let’s see if January or summer. Man United have not received any formal approach from clubs yet, it’s still early,” Romano told Givemesport.

Rashford ‘chooses’ next destination

Speculation on where Rashford will move to next has predictably intensified off the back of his going public on his wish to depart Old Trafford, though TEAMtalk has learned that a move to long-standing suitors PSG is not currently an option with the French side currently having no plans to rekindle that interest.

However, the French side remain big fans of the player and could yet alter their stance if United make clear how much a deal would cost and if it is deemed affordable to them.

That said, the player’s high wages – he currently earns in the region of £300,000 a week at Old Trafford – are seen as problematic to any of his suitors and there would need to be a compromise on the player’s behalf were he to move on.

That said, it seems the player is not wholly amored by the prospect of a move to France himself with a strong report on Wednesday instead claiming Rashford has decided he wants to move to Spain next and test himself in LaLiga.

But it is unclear exactly where he could go. Real Madrid do not need him while Barcelona are chasing different wingers.

A separate report from TBR Football states that there has been little interest from other clubs in signing Rashford permanently and that Rashford’s entourage has ‘approached’ Barca, Bayern Munich and Fenerbahce to gauge their interest in a prospective deal.

With Barca out of the running, Bayern or Fenerbahce could potentially yet emerge as frontrunners for the player.

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