The Marcus Rashford vs Ruben Amorim showdown just days into manager’s reign from which relationship has never recovered
MARCUS RASHFORD and Ruben Amorim fell out just days into the Manchester United manager’s reign.
Rashford is looking to leave the club before Monday’s transfer deadline, having not played in any of their last 12 games.
The Sun can exclusively reveal that Amorim’s sour relationship with the England star can be traced back to before his third game in charge against Everton on December 1.
Rashford scored twice in a 4-0 win, but he has been named in just one starting line-up since then.
A problem came to a head prior to the Everton game when he was accused of going on a night out by Amorim.
The pair had a heated conversation and the manager questioned his professionalism.
A source told The Sun: “Marcus got called in by Amorim who said he believed he had breached discipline by going out.
“Marcus denied it and was adamant he had done nothing wrong. He asked the manager to show him the proof he’d been out and said something along the lines of, ‘Are you calling me a liar?’
“Their relationship has never recovered, and it’s hard to see how it ever will now.”
It is not the first time partying has been an issue, as last year previous boss Erik ten Hag fined him two weeks’ wages for calling in sick to training after a booze-fuelled bender in Belfast.
Rashford featured briefly in the next three games after the Everton win before being dropped from the squad for the trip to Manchester City and he has not played since.
Amorim explained his decision to leave him out, citing his “performance in training, the way you eat, the way you push your team-mates”.
Two days later, Rashford caught United off guard with a bombshell interview in which he claimed he was “ready for a new challenge”.
The player feels he has been treated unfairly by Amorim on orders from owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who wants his staggering £325,000-a-week wages off the books.
A source told The Sun: “Marcus thinks Sir Jim wants him out of the club and has basically told head coach Ruben Amorim to get him out.
“He might just have met his match with Sir Jim.
“Marcus feels like he is being picked on.
“In the early days of training under Amorim, he was trying to learn new systems and other players were also struggling — but he was the one who was getting more vocal criticism.
“He knows he needs to leave but he’s shocked that no big team has pulled out all the stops to get him.
“There’s been interest but financially it’s a complicated deal and that’s put quite a few teams off.
“Marcus has been left bewildered by how quickly his relationship with Amorim has disintegrated.”
When asked about his Rashford’s exile last week, the Portuguese boss said he would rather put his 63- year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vita on the pitch instead of “a player who doesn’t give the maximum every day”.
It leaves the forward desperately searching for a new club and Aston Villa could reportedly make a late loan offer.
Moves to Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Barcelona have already collapsed due to his £325,000 weekly wage packet proving a stumbling block.