Marcus Rashford in Manchester United limbo as decisive week looms after Ruben Amorim dig | OneFootball

Wantaway striker faces potentially six more months out of action if he can’t find a new club before the transfer deadline

The Marcus Rashford situation reached a new crescendo on Sunday night.

Following the 1-0 win over Fulham - Rashford’s 11th straight match out of the Manchester United team - manager Ruben Amorim said he would rather give a place on the bench to his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach than to a player who does not give the “maximum” in training. It was a warning to all players, but in response to a question about Rashford.

Just seven days remain before the transfer window ends, and Rashford appears no closer to knowing where he will be by closing time.

Last month, Rashford admitted he is “ready for a new challenge”, but added: “When I leave, it’s going to be ‘no hard feelings’. You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United.”

Rashford has been made available for loan this month, but the Red Devils are on a cost-cutting crusade at board level right now and are hopeful of passing some, if not all, of his wages - more than £325,000 a week - onto new employers.

It is with this in mind that hearing Amorim’s words in his press conference after the Fulham win felt so strange. The manager called Rashford out for failing to do “what I think a footballer should do in training [and] in life”. Which club will be prepared to stump up his princely wages after such a damning job reference?

Last January, Rashford phoned in sick and missed training on Erik ten Hag’s watch following two nights out partying in Belfast.

Then, after scoring a double in the 4-0 thrashing of Everton on December 1, Amorim caught wind of reports that Rashford had been out partying less than 48 hours earlier, something the manager had already told his players he was not keen on so close to a game.

Though he insisted his manager had been misinformed, the Englishman was left out of the starting lineup three days later against Arsenal. Since the Everton game, his only start has come against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League. Since Plzen: 11 games, in the squad once, zero appearances.

There is clearly a discipline problem there, but quite how bad it is cannot be truly known.

The former United caretaker manager Ralf Rangnick felt almost diametrically opposed to how Amorim does. Rangnick felt there was a disconnect between Rashford’s exceptionally high training levels and his indifferent performances in matches. The incumbent’s words suggest that work ethic has dissipated. The goodwill certainly has, too.

In an interview with Sky Sports on January 3, Amorim admitted: “It depends more on him than me.” More than three weeks on, it is difficult to see a way back for Rashford at United.

Rashford, who has been putting in extra training sessions to try to impress Amorim, has been offered to AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, each of whom were keen before the transfer chatter went cold.

West Ham and, reportedly, Tottenham checked out the logistics of a deal, only to find that the practicalities did not appeal. In any case, Rashford is said to have been unconvinced by a move to either club. He is believed to be keener on a loan at Barcelona, his representatives having met with club executives in Lisbon last Tuesday.

Yet the Catalan giants are in such financial peril that they had real trouble registering signing Dani Olmo for availability in LaLiga. Could Barca afford Rashford’s wages? New comments about a lack of application make the odds of them even trying more remote now.

While the MLS might provide an out, that would signal a premature stepping down from the summit of the game for a 27-year-old forward now in his supposed peak years. Saudi Arabia is always an option — just not in Rashford’s own mind.

United strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have just two and three league goals respectively this season, and Amorim admitted he lacked the option to bring pace off the bench at Craven Cottage. Rashford is staring him in the face with regard to both problems, but Amorim will not budge. He insisted as much.

Rashford therefore faces the very real prospect of six months without football, if a loan exit cannot be agreed before next Monday’s deadline and if he fails to convince Amorim that he is dedicated enough to be reintroduced.

It is a situation at an impasse. A sad state of affairs for a seasoned England international, and a Manchester United academy graduate who is, on his day, one of their best players.