Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has refused to be drawn into questions surrounding Marcus Rashford's continued absence from his side, with the Red Devils losing a third game in a week on Boxing Day.
Rashford has not played for his side since their Europa League victory over Viktoria Plzen in the Czech Republic after admitting in an impressive interview that he is 'ready for a new challenge'.
The forward has not featured for United since, playing away in each of the last four games, three of which ended in defeats for the Old Trafford club.
With the results not going as Amorim would like, the intensity naturally increases, especially regarding topics such as player absences, and what conclusions can be drawn from such absences.
As such, Amorim kept his cards close to his chest when the questions naturally turned to the absent star, who has hardly torn trees with his form this season, scoring just four in fifteen Premier League games.
“It's always the same reason,” he told Prime Video when asked about Rashford.
“We have to be the same professionals, the same guys, win or lose. If I lose, I have to be stronger. I will continue with my idea until the end.'
“If he's not there you can make a decision,” the Man United head coach added.
Rashford's continued exclusion has been something of a talking point since his interview was made public earlier this month.
While Amorim will know that the best way to make questions go away is to reverse the results – if the questions bother him at all – it may also be important to start early in his reign to draw the line.
However, as former Man United defender Wes Brown suggested in Prime Video's reporting, Rashford's form makes it difficult to force his way into the squad of the likes of Amad Diallo who are flourishing under the new regime.
“It's disappointing again that he isn't in the squad,” Brown said on Prime Video.
'It seems the manager has set his terms: 'If you want to be in the squad, these are the terms you will adhere to – whether it's in training, off the pitch or whatever.
'And in the end that has not yet been resolved. It will be a very sad day when we see Marcus leave.
'But ultimately you have to be on the same page as the manager. I honestly think it's close [to Amorim’s strongest line-up]. I think this is the closest you can get right now.”
After 30 goals in the 2022-2023 season, Rashford struggled to reach the levels he set in 2023-2024, with his inconsistent form continuing in 2024-2025.
Mail Sport had reported earlier this month that the club could listen to offers starting from £40 million for the England forward.
However, Ben Foster, who played in the Premier League for United, West Brom, Watford and Birmingham, tore into Rashford and suggested that fee may still be slightly too high.
“Marcus Rashford…” he said on his Cycling GK podcast. 'There are so many people talking about him and saying, 'on his day, on his day'.
'His day is once every ten games. Really, it's once every 10 games and you can't have a fancy player in the modern game that gives you one game out of 10, it's that simple.
'Combined with the fact that he's going to have so much reputation and baggage and everything that comes with that, I don't think Mikel Arteta wants that anywhere near that Arsenal.
'He has to leave Manchester United. I think it will be an MLS (move) or something like that. It will have to be a huge pay cut.”
“Once that fire goes out, can you get it back?,” he added. 'It must come from him. I don't think he can get it back.
“Again, you're talking about money ruining everything, guys.
“Once people have that huge contract, have those five years in the bank and have everything they're going to need for the rest of their lives, then that fire is gone.
'They were talking about forty million pounds, you know. Even for ten I won't pay ten million pounds… because of everything.'
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