SIR JIM RATCLIFFE and the Manchester United board will not interfere with Ruben Amorim's dealings with Marcus Rashford.
The England star was left out of United's squad entirely for the third time in eight days in Sunday's defeat to Bournemouth.
That fueled belief that 27-year-old Rashford appears destined to leave when the transfer window opens next week, with former United captain Gary Neville claiming he may have played his last game for the club.
Rashford himself admitted, a day after being left out of Sunday's Manchester derby win, that his future may lie elsewhere.
But any match in which Rashford is banned from Amorim's squad looks set to damage United's chances of cashing in on the striker next month.
United are reportedly looking for at least £40 million and Rashford is among the highest earners at Old Trafford.
Ideally, new minority owner Ratcliffe would want Rashford in the first team and show glimpses of the talent that saw him score 30 times for United two seasons ago.
However, there is no pressure from Ratcliffe or any of his executives at Ineos, including new CEO Omar Berrada.
Since leaving Rashford in last weekend's dramatic derby win at City, Amorim has insisted the choice is his alone, repeating that stance before the defeat at Bournemouth.
Amorim said: “It is my decision and it always will be.
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“It's selection. I want to see the best from my players and I try different things with different players. That is my focus.”
Rashford's predicament has been exacerbated by the reaction of his teammate Alejandro Garnacho, who was dropped for the Etihad derby along with the striker.
The pair trained on the morning of City's 2-1 win at United's Carrington base and received praise from Amorim for their efforts.
Within four days, Garnacho was back in the squad for the EFL Cup trip to Tottenham, coming off the bench in that defeat and against Bournemouth.
But Rashford missed training immediately after the City game due to illness and did not travel with the team, either to the Etihad or to Tottenham.
He was spotted at Old Trafford on Sunday, wearing a club tracksuit, and the Boxing Day visit to Wolves will be the next test of whether he has won his way back into Amorim's favour.
The new United manager has made plenty of changes since taking over and looks set to continue that policy given the tough holiday schedule.
However, when asked after the Bournemouth game whether Rashford can expect a recall at Molineux, he refuses to wonder.
He said: “It depends. We'll see.”
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