'Get them out!' – Rio Ferdinand tells Manchester United to sell three players

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Rio Ferdinand has urged Ruben Amorim to oversee a clear-out before the January transfer window closes and offload three Manchester United players.

Following a subdued start to the winter window, clubs are expected to push on with some deals ahead of the February 3 deadline.

Manchester United are looking to sign a new left-back as Luke Shaw continues to struggle with fitness and will consider bringing a new striker to Old Trafford if a suitable deal presents itself.

Amorim admitted when he arrived at the club in November that it would take time to turn United around, but the task appears even bigger than the Portuguese boss first realised.

Manchester United have won just two of their last nine league games and remain in the bottom-half of the Premier League table, closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League spots.

Ferdinand believes Amorim would benefit from removing some deadwood from his squad and says Marcus Rashford, Antony and Tyrell Malacia should all be moved on.

Rashford has been linked with a number of domestic and foreign clubs after revealing last month he was ‘ready’ for a new challenge.

Antony is also keen for a move away from Old Trafford following a dismal spell in Manchester. La Liga club Real Betis are closing in on a January deal for the Brazilian.

Malacia, meanwhile, looks set to be on the move before the window slams shut as Manchester United look to bring in left wing-back Patrick Dorgu from Lecce.

Asked about the future of Rashford, Antony and Malacia, Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: ‘I think Antony is going. Someone told me he was going to Real Betis or somewhere like that.

‘Get them out man! Sorry, I'm just being honest. The more those guys are around… there's just bad noise.

‘They all want to go, they're all happy to go, so get them out and start afresh. If there's players around who are unsettled and not happy and it's not going to plan, it's like a cancerous, bad energy and it spreads around the changing room.

‘It makes things morbid and depressing. It would have been alright if the team was flying because those players just get left behind, but it's especially bad when you're not winning.’

Ferdinand’s former club lost four games in the space of 12 days over the festive period but enjoyed a more promising start to 2025, drawing at Liverpool and beating Arsenal in the FA Cup.

But United needed three late goals to come from behind against bottom-placed Southampton and were outclassed by Brighton at the weekend.

After suffering a 3-1 defeat to Brighton, Amorim described his Manchester United team as ‘maybe the worst’ in the club’s 147-year history.

‘It’s a really bold statement to say they are the worst ever,’ ex-Everton midfielder Leon Osman said on Amorim’s comments. ‘I personally wouldn’t enjoy being called out like this.

‘It would probably fire me up – which is probably the intent – but no one wants to be known as the worst team ever. It’s probably an honest and right on the mark statement.’

Manchester United return to action on Thursday night against Europa League rivals Rangers, who have slipped 13 points behind arch-rivals Celtic in the Scottish Premiership table.

United and Rangers are separated by just one point in the Europa League group phase, however, with the Scots drawing with Tottenham in their last European fixture.

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