How Man United and Marcus Rashford can avoid a messy divorce and why we shouldn't be surprised at the timing of his interview, writes CHRIS WHEELER

For a man who knew what was coming next, Ruben Amorim seemed remarkably cheerful when he sat down at Carrington yesterday morning. Ruben Amorim acquitted himself well when pressed on Marcus Rashford's Man United future Rashford gave an interview where he said he is 'ready for a new challenge and the next steps' It came after Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were left out of United's matchday squad for last weekend's Manchester derby against arch-rivals City by the Portuguese coach ‘I think he’s right,’ said the 39-year-old before cleverly turning the issue of Rashford’s new challenge on its head. Rashford's words come two years after Cristiano Ronaldo gave a bombshell TV interview to Piers Morgan criticising all aspects of the club, with United parting ways with him shortly after Rashford scored 30 times during the 2022-23 season, but has struggled to replicate that since On the back of that campaign, he signed a bumper new £315,000-a-week contract which makes a mid-season exit from Old Trafford even more difficult to negotiate right now When Rashford was dropped for the derby at the weekend, the rumour mill went into overdrive. United have been open to selling Rashford for some time and, despite Amorim’s words yesterday, they may well decide parting ways is for the best. Selling the 27-year-old could help United in regards to meeting the Premier League’s PSR rules Rashford has faced questions about his life away from the pitch, alongside his demeanour on it Amorim also revealed he had not spoken to the player or United's hierarchy about the situation Moving there at this stage of Rashford’s career would once have seemed unthinkable, but he is only 19 months younger than Ivan Toney, who left Brentford to join Al Ahli in August.