Ruben Amorim warned Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho that he ‘pays attention to everything’ after he made the shock decision to leave both players out of his squad to take on Manchester City.
Rashford and Garnacho have struggled for form of late and despite neither carrying any injuries, both were left out entirely from Manchester United’s squad on Sunday.
‘I don’t want to send a message. It’s simply an evaluation, and they know it,’ Amorim told Sky Sports.
‘The players are really, really smart. Everybody understands my decision. I have to choose. It’s just simple selection.
‘The context is difficult. We have to win games and we have a difficult situation.
‘I pay attention to everything, the way you eat, the way you put on your clothes to go the game. Everything. I make my evaluation and then I have to decide. I have a lot of players to choose.’
Marcus Rashford was a shock omission from Man United’s squad for Sunday’s derby match
Rashford (middle) and Alejandro Garnacho (left) both failed to even make the subs’ bench
Ruben Amorim has not been scared to make some big calls since becoming United head coach
Pressed on such a big selection call and how he broke the news to two players that are top of the scoring charts for United in the Premier League this season, Amorim added: ‘It’s the same all the time. There’s a communication after the last training goes to the WhatsApp. They receive the information.
‘But they are alright. They had training this morning. I was there. Everything was OK. They trained really well.’
£325,000-a-week star Rashford struggled in midweek against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League and just days after Mail Sport revealed that United are willing to listen to offers of £40million for him in January, he has been left out of the squad entirely.
Garnacho, another who has frustrated in recent weeks, did not make the cut either.
Amorim has made three changes to the side that lost 3-2 at home to Nottingham Forest last time out in the Premier League.
Harry Maguire has come in in place of teenager Leny Yoro, while Noussair Mazraoui and Mason Mount are inserted into the side in place of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho.
All the eyes will be on Rashford’s omission, however, with major questions over his long-term future at the club now.
United are under pressure to generate funds as they are struggling to comply with PSR rules having posted losses of £300m over the last three years. Rashford has emerged as a prime candidate for sale.
Rashford cut a dejected figure in midweek when he was hooked against Viktoria Plzen
Amorim has reportedly been told he must sell players before making any signings
After spending another £200m on transfers last summer, United did not budget on having to pay out an additional £21.4m to replace Erik ten Hag with Amorim.
That means that United would consider offers of £40m for Rashford – but accept there are unlikely to be any bidders for the England forward in the January transfer window.
Selling homegrown players counts as 100 per cent profit on the PSR balance sheet, and for some time now the spotlight has fallen on Rashford who has been at the club since the age of seven.
It’s understood the 27-year-old’s asking price would have been as much as £100m when he scored 30 goals in Ten Hag’s first season at United.
But Rashford’s loss of form and the contract he signed last year worth a prohibitive £325,000-a-week means that his value has more than halved.
Manchester United (3-4-3): Onana; Maguire, De Ligt, Martinez; Mazraoui, Fernandes, Ugarte, Dalot; Mount, Hojlund, Amad
Substitutes: Bayindir, Lindelof, Malacia, Yoro, Casemiro, Eriksen, Mainoo, Antony, Zirkzee.
