Gary Neville has insisted that he ‘suspects’ one other factor coming into play around Ruben Amorim’s major call on a Manchester United player at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim has endured both the highs and lows during his fledgling Manchester United career after his arrival from Sporting CP in November 2024.
The 40-year-old United manager replaced Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford dugout after the Dutchman was axed by the Premier League club last October.
Amorim has seen a turnaround in results for United in the Europa League under his reign, with the Red Devils winning all four of their last four matches under him and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The Red Devils picked up three Europa League draws under former United manager Erik ten Hag in the 2024-25 campaign before he was sacked.
However, Amorim has still struggled to see United pick up their form in the Premier League, with the Red Devils currently languishing in 12th place in the table.
United are 13 points clear of the Premier League relegation zone and the Red Devils are 12 points adrift from the top four after 23 league matches this season.
Neville’s verdict on Amorim and Man Utd star
Speaking on The Overlap’s Stick to Football show, Gary Neville dropped his two cents on the situation around Ruben Amorim and Marcus Rashford.
Marcus Rashford’s future at Old Trafford remains up in the air after Ruben Amorim dropped him for the 2-1 Premier League win over Manchester City last December.
The 27-year-old Manchester United star hasn’t featured for the Red Devils since Amorim’s men beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League last month.
Rashford has been linked with a move away from the Red Devils and the England international has attracted interest from clubs in Europe.
Wayne Rooney appeared on the Stick to Football podcast and revealed what he saw from Rashford at Carrington during his recent visit to United’s training complex.
Neville has now claimed that Amorim is not the only reason for wanting to axe Rashford and he believes that it’s a “business play” to sell him.
“I know that Ruben Amorim is honest,” he said on The Overlap.
“I do believe that he wants the money back for Marcus Rashford, he’s said that [about him training] to probably shine a light on him and get him out of the club.
“They’re probably asking Marcus to take a wage cut to leave, they don’t want to subsidise the wages because there is no way a new club will pay him those wages.
“So, I suspect it’s a brutal blow on him to say that there is no future here for him, that we need him out. I suspect it’s a business play as well as an honesty play.”
What did Amorim say about Rashford?
Marcus Rashford is under contract with United until 2028 and it remains unclear if the Red Devils star will leave Old Trafford before the January window shuts.
Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and AC Milan have been linked with the United player, but a major roadblock remains Rashford’s hefty wages at the club.
United would benefit from selling Rashford due to the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR), with the player being a youth academy product.
Speaking after United’s 1-0 win over Fulham on Sunday, Amorim insisted that it remains the same reason why Rashford is not playing under him.
“It’s always the same reason: the training, the way I see a footballer should do in life,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“It’s every day, every detail. If things don’t change, I will not change. It’s the same situation for every player, if you do the maximum and right things, we can use every player.
“You can see on the bench we miss a bit of pace on the bench. But I would put [Man United goalkeeping coach Jorge] Vital before a player who doesn’t give the maximum every day.”
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