Marcus Rashford has become a ‘distraction’ and needs to leave Manchester United in January, believes Gary Neville… as he backs Ruben Amorim over handling of axed striker

Gary Neville has claimed that Marcus Rashford needs to leave Manchester United in January and labelled him a ‘distraction’.

Rashford has been frozen out under new United boss Ruben Amorim, who has omitted the star from his last three matchday squads.

After missing out on the Manchester derby, Rashford was also absent for the Carabao Cup clash with Tottenham. He has now been omitted from the squad for the Premier League game at home to Bournemouth.

Neville initially thought it was unlikely that Rashford would leave United in January but stressed that such a scenario is now becoming increasingly likely. 

Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: ‘If you’d said to me seven or eight days ago whether Rashford could leave in January, I’d say no chance.

‘One thing in the past with players at a big club, if you’re talking to me about it every single week, it becomes a distraction for the manager and the focal point of the press conference, that’s when it does become obvious they have to leave.’

Gary Neville has claimed that Manchester United star Marcus Rashford needs to leave the club

Neville labelled Rashford, who has been left out of the last three squads, as a distraction

Rashford has seemingly been frozen out under new United manager Ruben Amorim

Neville added that if Rashford did depart then it could benefit both him and United, citing the examples of Jadon Sancho and Scott McTominay who seem more settled elsewhere. 

‘It’ll probably work for both parties. There’s good examples of players who have struggled at Man Utd and gone on to do better elsewhere – Jadon Sancho at Chelsea, Scott McTominay didn’t struggle but he’s doing well at Napoli.

‘Marcus might think that’s the right thing for him as well.’

Neville backed Amorim for his approach regarding Rashford, saying that the United boss is ‘doing the right thing’ by leaving the 27-year-old out.

Neville said: ‘Something has to change at Man Utd. For 10 years there’s been a lot of the same players delivering the same results.

‘We’ve talked about culture a number of times. If there’s players who aren’t quite fitting in, for one reason for another, if they’ve not got good enough quality, they’ve got to be let go.

‘Ruben Amorim knows now, five managers before him have fallen. Some of those have shown faith in these same players. It’s a case of protecting himself and doing the right thing for himself and the club.’

Rashford has indicated that he could be set to leave United after stating that he is open to a new challenge. 

Neville believes that Amorim has made the right choice by continuing to leave Rashford out

Since making his debut in 2016, United academy product Rashford has played 426 senior games for the club and has scored 138 goals.

During his time at United he has won the FA Cup and the League Cup twice as well as the Europa League. 

Rashford has also been capped by England on 60 occasions but hasn’t featured for the Three Lions since March and a move could help him to get back into the squad.

The attacker could still leave despite his current contract running until 2028 on a deal worth around £325,000-a-week.