Man Utd will let Marcus Rashford leave on LOAN in January to avoid situation turning toxic – with one condition

MARCUS RASHFORD is at a crossroads.

But now the England star has to make the biggest choice he has ever faced – does he care about cash, or about his career?

Rashford’s shock admission that he is “ready for a new challenge” after some two decades under the Manchester United umbrella has altered the dynamic around his future.

That Rashford might not fit the blueprint of Ruben Amorim – who has now responded to Rashford’s comments – was not exactly a surprise.

The Portuguese coach prefers a 3-4-3 formation but appears to have settled on Rasmus Hojlund as his starting central striker and wants two “narrow” inside forwards, with the width coming from the wing-backs.

Rashford has always wanted to play through the middle but is often at his best exploiting spaces out wide – and that skillset does not necessarily suit the way Amorim wants to play.

Even so, going public with his evident dissatisfaction at being bombed entirely from the squad for the Manchester derby was a major move, even if he vowed there would be “no hard feelings” if he does leave his boyhood club.

In truth, Rashford has been leaving United almost from the moment he signed that new £325,000 per week contract in 2023.

Something was broken in his connection to the club. His form dropped, his threat dissipated, his issues with the hierarchy deepened.

When Erik ten Hag dropped him for hosting a birthday party after a derby defeat, and he later pulled a sickie to miss the FA Cup game with Newport, it felt even then that the writing was on the wall.

The facts suggest the love affair has ended. After scoring 30 in all competitions to earn that new deal, he has scored just 15 in the 18 months since it was signed.

Amorim’s arrival seems merely to have accelerated what was increasingly inevitable.

Now, though, it is up to Rashford to determine what his future will bring.

If it is only about the money, then his options might be somewhat limited.

It is hard to see a Prem rival coughing up the same £16.9m annual salary – although Rashford’s comments have probably knocked £20m-plus off any transfer fee, even next month.

But Real Madrid have their fill of big-money strikers and Barcelona’s budget remains restricted by La Liga financial controls.

In Europe, then, that probably leaves PSG – but a move to a one-club league.

Or, in the wider world, he could follow the likes of Ivan Toney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Firmino and Co and head to the Saudi desert.

Lucrative, yep. Certainly a different environment – and that may be exactly what Rashford both wants and needs. But the football? Not in a million years.

What Rashford needs, above all, is to be able to play for trophies and showcase his talents.

There is no better stage than the Premier League – which has far more global eyeballs on it than any other domestic competition.

And in that Premier League there is one club crying out for a goalscoring No 9, especially if he can also play down the left channel to balance out the side and widen its threat.

Rashford has always been more Longsight than London.

Yet Arsenal, and Mikel Arteta, might be the perfect fit.

The Gunners’ lack of a proper scorer is one of the major factors many fans feel has hurt their title challenge this year.

Gabriel Jesus has never been a natural finisher, while Kai Havertz is still a converted midfielder.

And while the link-up between Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka makes their right flank deadly, faith in Gabriel Martinelli on the left is waning.

There have not been too many who succeeded at Arsenal after leaving United – although Danny Welbeck was not a flop.

Rashford has all the attributes to change that history, if he can reproduce what everybody knows is inside him.

And by breaking free, giving himself the chance to start all over, Rashford can make a point to Amorim that will resonate for a very long time.

ALTAY BAYINDIR had a game to forget as Manchester United were dumped out of the Carabao Cup.

Not many of the Red Devils were able to impress as they were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur.

SunSport’s Katherine Walsh has provided her ratings of the Man United squad…

Altay Bayindir – 2

Squandered his audition after Andre Onana’s recent blunders against Nottingham Forest and Plzen.

Was responsible for Spurs’ opener when he spilled Pedro Porro’s shot into the path of Dominic Solanke.

Was probably fouled but still flapped as Son made it 4-2 from a direct CORNER in the 88th minute. Perhaps Onana isn’t so bad?

Victor Lindelof – 4

Caught slacking and lacking and a mile off the pace as Spurs’ front line rang rings around United for most of the game.

No surprise he came off injured just before half-time.

Leny Yoro – 5

Was physically targeted by Solanke in the first half, but the 19-year-old stood up to him and Son fairly well.

Jeered by the home fans when he was nutmegged by Djed Spence and was lucky when referee John Brooks blew for a foul early on.

Made a crunching tackle on Son in the 86th minute right in front of a rowdy home end – but the Korean scored from the resulting corner.

Lisandro Martinez – 3

All over the place at the back. Directly assisted Tottenham’s second when Maddison’s cross hit off his extended back leg and into the path of Kulusevski from five yards.

Solanke eased past him for 3-0 too and was lucky not to gift Spurs a fourth soon after.

Diogo Dalot – 6

Only United defender who had a clue.

Solid crosses and switches in play while pressing the makeshift Spurs backline, which was often overplaying.

Christian Eriksen – 6

Inches away from bagging the equaliser at 1-0 but was blocked by Yves Bissouma.

Overhit several corners as he was tasked with taking from both sides but was clapped off from the home fans when he made way for Kobbie Mainoo.

Manuel Ugarte – 4

Has perhaps stolen Martinez’s “Butcher” title at Man Utd as the Spurs fans wanted him hit with a booking.

Constantly gave away fouls and conceded dangerous free kicks which isn’t ideal with James Maddison on the pitch.

He almost poked Kulusevski’s cross into his own net, but did well to make sure it went just wide.

Noussair Mazraoui – 5

Knew he was in for a difficult evening against Son, who was wonderful going forward with several intricate passes.

Booked for catching Spence, Amorim’s head was down when Maddison took the free-kick.

Couldn’t get his feet right for chance just before half-time.

Antony – 4

A nervy start saw him lose the ball in a dangerous position with a minute gone which set Son away to cross into Brennan Johnson.

Too casual on the ball and put visitors under pressure in the early passages.

Basically gave the home fans something to laugh about every time he lost the ball, which was several times to 18-year-old Archie Gray.

Bruno Fernandes – 6

He did his creative job when he could, putting Hojlund through inside 11 minutes, only for the Dane to fluff his lines.

Curled just wide from outside the area and assisted Zirkzee’s goal to give the travelling end a glimmer of hope.

Drew a booking for Sarr for a tackle from behind and was booed before his free-kick clipped the top of the net.

Rasmus Hojlund – 5

Rarely got a sniff with United working on the counter early on and weak on the ball when did receive it.

He was thumped and bullied by the makeshift Spurs backline of Gray and Radu Drăgușin and replaced by Joshua Zirkzee in the 55th minute.

SUBS

Jonny Evans (’44 Victor Lindelof) – 4

Solanke drove the ball through his legs for 3-0.

Bizarrely got on the scoresheet with a last-minute consolation with a header from a corner.

Kobbie Mainoo – (’56 Eriksen) – 6

He was waiting on the sidelines before Solanke tripled Spurs’ lead and brought some much-needed composure with his side 3-0 down.

Joshua Zirkzee – (’56 Hojlund) – 6

Had United’s first attempt on target in the 61st minute but his header was well kept out by Fraser Forster.

But gave United hope when he made it 3-1 a minute later from Forster’s blunder.

Did better than Hojlund in out-muscling Dragusin.

Amad Diallo – (’55 Antony) – 8

Just as Martin Odegaard did last night against Palace, Amad’s introduction turned things around for the Red Devils.

The tricky winger made it 3-2 when his unbelievable pressing forced Forster into ANOTHER error from a routine free-kick.

The star of the show also fed the ball to Fernandes, who assisted Zirkzee’s goal and brought some much-needed impetus to United’s forward play.

Alejandro Garnacho (’72 Ugarte) – 5

The sub everybody was waiting for after he was dropped for United’s 2-1 win against Man City on Sunday.

Chased every ball down but loses points due to the crazy impact of the earlier substitutions.