Ruben Amorim sends parting message to Marcus Rashford and admits he's relieved he's gone

Ruben Amorim admits he's relieved the saga regarding Marcus Rashford's future is over and he's "thankful" Unai Emery can now field questions about the Manchester United loanee. The forward left Old Trafford late in the transfer window and will spend the remainder of the season at Aston Villa, where they still have hopes of making the top four. Rashford hasn't played for United since mid-December and it became clear he had no future in Manchester.

Amorim dropped him for the Manchester derby win and never bought him back into the fold as he publicly confessed the player needed to change if he wanted to be a success. Rashford's form had nosedived over the past 18 months but his omission meant he was regularly a part of Amorim's press conferences. Now though the United boss is glad he can talk about other matters with his focus on the players he has.

He said: "Like we said before, we are fighting for our jobs until the summer and I am just focused on these games. Thankfully Marcus is in Birmingham now with Unai, so you can take these questions this month to another coach. We are just focused on our players.". The 27-year-old's time at Old Trafford, where he's played since making his debut in 2016, could come to an end sooner rather than later with his loan deal including an option to buy for £40million. It is understood that Villa will pay a minimum of 75% of Rashford's wages, but will not paying a loan fee.

Rashford scored the first goal of the Amorim era against Ipswich several months ago, but has rarely featured since. The new manager has continued to overlook him despite the team's struggles, which has underlined his demise. Rashford's drop off has seen him lose his England spot and he failed to go to the Euros back in the summer. He's been tipped to rediscover his best form away from the Manchester environment however. Despite his exit those at United didn't bring in any new faces with Amorim adamant they will take a long-term view to recruitment following years of failed transfers.

He said: "What I feel is that the club is taking its time, we know the urgency of the moment of the team, everybody here don’t want to make the same mistakes of the past, in the summer we will see. But like I said, we are being really careful with transfers because we did some mistakes in the past.". Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.