Marcus Rashford’s stand-off with Ruben Amorim has painted a controversial Jose Mourinho claim regarding the star forward in an interesting light.
Mourinho, now at Fenerbahce, spent two-and-a-half seasons in charge of Manchester United from 2016 to 2018 and led the Red Devils to a League Cup and Europa League triumph.
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Rashford, who was just 19 years old when Mourinho first arrived, featured 105 times across all competitions in the Portuguese boss’ first two campaigns at Old Trafford.
Although Rashford cemented himself as a key member of the team under Mourinho, the two-time Champions League winner felt the forward did not push himself enough.
It wasn’t just Rashford that Mourinho was critical of, as the former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss lumped Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw into the same group.
Speaking with Hristo Stoichkov in 2018, Mourinho felt the quartet lacked ‘maturity’.
“When I say that, I mean maturity at a personal level,” Mourinho said.
“We are more men, we are more mature, we were more prepared to face life. We were less protected. In England, they call it ‘spoilt.'”
Mourinho added: “Today, we’re talking about ‘spoilt kids’. Our children are more ‘spoilt’ than we were.
“I think kids these days have a different social life than us, and players have around them an entourage, and I mean a personal entourage, the people that surround them, that protect them more, give them more affection, more excuses. They reach maturity more slowly.
“When we talk about Luke Shaw, [Anthony] Martial, [Jesse] Lingard, [Marcus] Rashford, we’re talking about kids with great potential but still lack a word I can’t say but that you like a lot… they lack a bit of that.
“Character, personality, as they say in Spain as well, bad blood, that natural aggression that you had.”
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Of those four, only Shaw and Rashford remain as Lingard and Martial are now at FC Seoul and AEK Athens respectively.
However, Rashford looks increasingly likely to move on from Old Trafford after he admitted in a recent interview he was ready for a ‘new challenge’ away from the club.
Rashford made the shock admission just days after he was dropped by Amorim for United’s 2-1 win over Manchester City on December 15.
Since the bombshell claim, Rashford has been left out of United’s next three matchday squads, with the latest being a 2-0 defeat away to Wolves on Boxing Day.
Rashford’s absences are in complete contrast to how he began under Amorim, as the 60-cap England international scored three goals in the new Red Devils boss’ first two league games in charge.
The forward’s last start came in the Europa League against Viktoria Plzen, although he was hauled off in the 56th minute.
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Amorim has largely remained coy on the explanations behind Rashford’s absences.
Speaking to Match of the Day regarding whether Rashford would play against Wolves, Amorim responded: “It depends, we will see.”
Amorim was also asked about Rashford being out of the squad prior to United’s fixture against Bournemouth on December 22.
“It is my decision and it always will be,” Amorim told Sky.
“It is selection. I want to see the best of my players and I try different things with different players, so that is my focus.”
Amorim may extend Rashford’s matchday exile to a fifth-straight game as United take on an in-form Newcastle on Monday.
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The Magpies arrive at Old Trafford having won their last four in all competitions.
In that run, Eddie Howe’s side have scored 14 goals and conceded just once and now sit seventh in the Premier League table.
As for United, they have not won since their dramatic victory over City.
The worrying form has Amorim’s side sitting 14th in the league with just 22 points.
