'He is right' - Ruben Amorim addresses Marcus Rashford future at Manchester United

Ruben Amorim insists he wants to keep ‘big talent’ Marcus Rashford at Manchester United despite fresh speculation over his future.

Rashford was omitted from the United squad for their derby win over Man City at the weekend before he dropped the bombshell revelation he feels 'ready for a new challenge.' The 27-year-old has spent his entire career at Old Trafford and has underperformed for the best part of 18 months after he had played the best football of his life during Erik ten Hag's debut campaign.

It remains to be seen which clubs could even offer Rashford an exit route, given his hefty wage demands as well as the transfer fee he would command, but Amorim is adamant he wants the academy graduate to remain at the club and that United can offer him the challenge he craves.

“I think he is right,” Amorim said at his pre-match press conference. “We have here a new challenge, it a tough one. For me, it is the biggest challenge in football, because we are in a difficult situation. This is one of the biggest clubs in the world, so this is really a new challenge, and the biggest one. I hope all my players are ready for this challenge.”

The United head coach has not spoken to Rashford since he went public with his interview, though Amorim is certain he wants the best for a player he believes is a ‘big talent.’ Asked if he had talked to the forward yet, he added: “No, not yet. It was yesterday, I gave the day off to the lads, so he’s our player and he’s ready for the next game.

“I spoke with a lot of players individually and during training, what I want is to take the best stuff of Marcus Rashford as the player so I don’t talk about the future, I just talk about the present, I want the best of each one of them and that is the key point for me, I just want to win and to help the team be better. We are better with Marcus Rashford, that is simple and we will try different things to push Marcus to the best levels he showed in the past. And that’s all.”

“(Do you want to keep him?) Of course, because this kind of club needs big talent and he’s a big talent, so he just needs to perform at the highest level and that is my focus. I just want to help Marcus.”