Ruben Amorim finally confirms why he won't pick Marcus Rashford for Manchester United

Yesterday at 05:30 PM

Ruben Amorim has opened up on his decision to repeatedly overlook Marcus Rashford and says he would ‘prefer’ to play Manchester United’s goalkeeper coaching than a player who is ‘not giving the maximum every day’.

Rashford, 27, was once again absent on Sunday in United’s Premier League victory over Fulham.

His last appearance for boyhood club Manchester United was on December 12.

In United’s next match – a Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium – Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were both left out by Amorim, who hinted he was unhappy with their performances in training.

Garnacho soon returned to the team and has continued to feature despite strong speculation during the January transfer window that he will leave the club.

But Rashford, who is also the subject of transfer speculation, has continued to be overlooked by Amorim, who arrived at Manchester United in November following Erik ten Hag’s sacking.

Asked about Rashford’s absence at Craven Cottage – where Lisandro Martinez’s late deflected strike earned United an unconvincing 1-0 win – Amorim said: 'It's the same, it's always the same reason.' 

Pressed on the actual ‘reason’ for his absence, Amorim added: 'The reason is the training, the way I see what footballers should do in training, in life, it's every day, every detail. 

'So if things don't change, I will not change. It's the same situation for every player. If you do the maximum, if you do the right things, we can use every player. 

'You can see it today on the bench, we miss a little bit of pace to go and change the game, move some pieces. 

'But I prefer it like that. I will put Vital [Man United goalkeeper coaching Jorge Vital] on before I put a player on that don't give the maximum every day. So I will not change in that department.' 

More to follow…

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