Man United ‘forced to accept cut-price Marcus Rashford bid’
Man United will be forced to accept a cut-price offer for Marcus Rashford regardless of his performances at Aston Villa, according to their former chief scout.
Mick Brown, who spent over a decade at Old Trafford during their most successful period and remains very well-connected there, exclusively told Football Insider that Ruben Amorim has put the club in a difficult position.
The public falling-out between Rashford and his manager placed multiple clubs on alert and it has been suggested there is now no way back for the England international at United.
However, clubs are prepared to exploit his availability and will test the Red Devils’ resolve with low-ball offers knowing their desire to move him on.
It has been said that, even if he performs to the best of his ability during his loan spell at Villa Park, his situation at Man United is unlikely to be resolved.
Instead, the club would ideally look to raise significant funds from his sale and reinvest them into the squad, but that is now thought to be unlikely.
Clubs will not pay over the odds for Rashford given his situation, and are instead lining up cut-price offers to force the club’s hand.
Man United to accept Marcus Rashford offer after Aston Villa loan
However, the former scout who has a wealth of experience working in top-level player recruitment and who also worked as a senior scout at Villa Park, insisted that clubs will look to take advantage of the ongoing situation between Rashford and Amorim.
“Marcus Rashford is still a top-class player,” he told Football Insider.
“He’s got some great assets, he can ghost past players, he sees things in and around the box he can exploit, and he strikes the ball brilliantly.
“It’s up to the coaches and managers to get the best out of him.
“But there are many reasons why that hasn’t happened at Man United.
“In the couple of appearances he’s made for Villa, you have to wonder how United allowed a player like that to leave the club with the current state of the squad.
“If they think they can get somebody better in, they’d better have a load of money in the bank.
“They hoped that, if he does really well at Villa, somebody might come in and pay top money for him.
“That would probably be the best situation for everybody concerned.
“But that’s not going to happen – clubs are going to come in and try to get him on the cheap.
“They know about his situation with Amorim, they know that’s not likely to resolve itself, they know United are looking to move him on and they know that if they don’t, he won’t be involved.
“So in that case, United need to sell, but because clubs know that, they’re not going to pay over the odds.
“I think they’ll be forced to accept cut-price offers and they’d do well to get any huge fee for him.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues cost-cutting efforts at Old Trafford
BBC Sport reported on 12 February that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering making between 100 and 200 more redundancies after 250 members of staff were let go last year.
Rashford alone earns more than the 100 people who could potentially face the sack at Old Trafford, with his £325,000 weekly wage a huge dent in the books.
Villa are said to be covering up to 70 per cent of his salary until the end of the season, but ongoing financial concerns at United are only adding to the club’s woes.
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