Secret ‘second reason’ Rúben Amorim dropped Marcus Rashford amid Manchester United “culture” claim

Rúben Amorim has reportedly made his mind up over Marcus Rashford’s future amid a “culture” claim at Manchester United.

Marcus Rashford was absent as Manchester United rose from behind to defeat Manchester City on their own turf in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

While Rúben Amorim‘s men went behind due to yet another set-piece routine, brilliance from Amad Diallo helped the club earn a penalty that Bruno Fernandes duly dispatched.

Read More: Journalist suggests Man Utd executive influenced Ruben Amorim’s decision to drop Rashford & Garnacho

Moments later, the Ivorian winger then produced a further moment of magic to loop the ball over Ederson and score a 90th-minute winner.

While Amad has soaked up a lot of the talk after the game, much has also been made of the decisions to drop Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho from the matchday squad entirely.

Amorim’s two reasons

After the game, Amorim was quick to explain that the pair were not left at home due to any discipline problems. “It was not a disciplinary thing – next week, next game, new life,” Amorim said.

“They are fighting for the places but for me it’s important for me the performance in training, the performance in game, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with the team-mates, the way you push your team-mates.”

However, reports from Monday afternoon have shed light on a potential second reason why Rashford was left at home while he watched his teammates record a fantastic win.

According to The Guardian, Amorim has decided that the 27-year-old needs to be sold this summer amid reports that the club are open to offers of around £40 million.

The report states that the Old Trafford club are set to sell the star winger in order to kick start a cultural reboot, with Amorim feelings Rashford “needs to leave in the push to engineer a shift in culture throughout the club” for both the players and non-playing staff.

This hints that while Amorim explained his decision not to select Rashford was down to little details in training, it may also have been secretly influenced by the fact that, in his eyes, the English attacker is not essential to his plans at the club.

Rashford struggling to fit in the team

This may not come as a surprise to many, with plenty able to see that there is not obvious place for Rashford in Amorim’s 3-4-3 system.

While the attacking midfield spaces are perfectly suited to those such as Amad, Fernandes, and Mason Mount, wingers such as Garnacho and Rashford have struggled to adapt to playing in the more central areas of the field.

Amorim admitted before kick-off that he knows the experiment of using Rashford as a striker has not quite worked, saying: “You understand for so long we try something with Rash, it doesn’t work. Let’s continue to do the same thing or try something different? It’s as simple as that.

“They have to work hard. Today they trained really hard. It was not a disciplinary thing. Next week, next game, new life… When we want to change a lot of things, when people in the club are losing their jobs, they have to fight for their place in the team.”

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