Marcus Rashford, a striker for Manchester United, is expected to be ill and miss Sunday’s Premier League trip to leaders Liverpool.
Due to his poor training performance and his demeanor around his teammates, Rashford, 27, was initially left out of manager Ruben Amorim’s squad for four games.
Rashford was brought back into the lineup by Amorim for the December 30 home loss against Newcastle, but he was benched as United lost for the fourth time in a row and went without a goal for the third time in a row.
Candidates for the Serie A championship Rashford has recently been linked to Napoli; if his wages, which exceed £300,000 per week, were covered, United would be open to loaning him.
Before this weekend’s games, United was in 14th place in the league standings.
It was unclear if Rashford would be included in Amorim’s team because midfielder Manuel Ugarte and captain Bruno Fernandes had returned from suspension at Anfield.
However, the former Sporting manager has dismissed the idea.
Amorim stated, “At the moment he is ill,” “He is not training and this week he is out.”
“It’s the same situation,” he added when asked about Rashford’s role in the team. We’ll see in the future, but for now, this player is just like any other, and I choose them.”
Forward Amad Diallo is almost certain to agree to a contract extension with United, according to Amorim. Additionally, he stated that the club would be exercising its option to extend Harry Maguire’s current contract through 2026.
One of the top players during Amorim’s 11 games as manager has been Amad.
The highlight was when Amad scored the game-winning goal at Etihad Stadium during last month’s Manchester derby.
The Ivorian’s current contract expires in the summer, and although United has the option to extend it by one year, a deal that lasts until 2029 has been negotiated.
“Amad is near,” Amorim disclosed.
.During Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure at the club, Maguire was appointed captain; however, Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag revoked the honor and appointed Fernandes as captain instead.
An FA Cup final appearance and a berth in Gareth Southgate’s England team for Euro 2024 were lost due to injury, but the England defender fought off Ten Hag’s attempts to move him to West Ham and eventually reclaimed his position.
In the summer, Maguire’s current contract is also set to end.
Amorim has exposed the lack of leadership in his team and is seeking more from Maguire, even if he stated that the 31-year-old will stay at Old Trafford for another year.
Amorim remarked, “We are starving for leaders on the pitch.”
“I talked to him and told him that he had to get better on the field. He needs to become a better leader as well.
“We have leaders in the dressing room, but they need to step up if you want to be a top squad.
“Even though you can look at the table, you are still Manchester United, therefore it’s difficult to deal with the pressure of a large club during a difficult time. For this reason, we need the more seasoned guys to support the others.
“We all know the situation he had here, but we need him a lot and we are happily going to trigger the option.”
