Marcus Rashford put on sale by Man United as part of reboot with the view to have no passengers at the club.
Marcus Rashford has been marginalised and put up for sale by Manchester United as part of a cultural reboot.
After standards were allowed to deteriorate for over ten years, it is decided that the club needs to be transformed.
If there are bidders in January, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is prepared to lose money on Rashford because he is certain that there cannot be any passengers. Dan Ashworth’s departure as sporting director after five months, after United had paid £5 million to get him from Newcastle, was also motivated by a readiness to endure temporary suffering in the name of long-term benefit.
Ruben Amorim benched Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho for Sunday’s derby victory against Manchester City, and while Garnacho is thought to have a chance to return, the club believes Rashford’s time is done.
In an effort to change the club’s culture for both football and non-football employees, Amorim has determined Rashford must leave.
Rashford would accept a low-ball deal from United. Although a January transfer would be ideal, only a select few clubs could afford him due to his £365,000 weekly wage.
The biggest minority stakeholder, Ratcliffe, feels that since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in May 2013, United’s values have been permitted to erode. After Erik ten Hag was fired in October, Ratcliffe evaluated Amorim’s candidature and was pleased by the Portuguese’s readiness to make the necessary amount of change.
According to Ratcliffe, there will be agreement on the issue from the top down. He believes that prior managers have tried a revolution but were thwarted by a lack of support.
By mutual agreement, Ashworth departed last week. However, the Guardian is aware that Ashworth’s position was untenable due to his working relationship with Ratcliffe.
Although it is acknowledged that his departure after just 159 days has bad optics, Ratcliffe is adamant that this and other possibly difficult choices will be the best ones in the long term.