Marcus Rashford summed up his thoughts on Man Utd with just two words and rocked club

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A year has flown by since Marcus Rashford sent shockwaves through the football world by announcing he was ready to leave Manchester United . At the time, it seemed inconceivable that the forward, who had risen through United's youth ranks to become his boyhood club's star player, would ever depart Old Trafford, especially under such bitter circumstances while still at his physical peak.

The past 12 months have been a rollercoaster for the 28-year-old, who found himself frozen out by Ruben Amorim at United, endured a mixed loan stint at Aston Villa , and is now flourishing in Spain with Barcelona .

The England star grabbed headlines for all the wrong reasons a year ago when he was dropped from the United squad that defeated Manchester City due to his alleged poor attitude during training sessions . This came after 18 months of underwhelming performances from a player who had previously been his team's driving force.

Amorim's public criticism of the striker seemed to be the breaking point for Rashford, prompting him to take the drastic decision to end his United ordeal - through a bombshell interview with journalist Henry Winter where he announced his willingness to embrace a "new challenge."

During the interview, he admitted for the first time that he was open to leaving the club. He said: "For me, personally, I think I'm ready for a new challenge and the next steps.

"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. That's me as a person.

"If I know that a situation is already bad I'm not going to make it worse. I've seen how other players have left in the past and I don't want to be that person. When I leave I'll make a statement and it will be from me."

Rashford also responded to Amorim's decision to drop him by stating: "It's disheartening to be left out of a derby but it's happened, we won the game so let's move on.

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"It's disappointing but I'm also someone as I've got older I can deal with setbacks. What am I going to do about it? Sit there and cry about it. Or do my best the next time I'm available."

By that point, it seemed all bridges between Rashford and Amorim had been burnt, with the forward excluded from every matchday squad for the remainder of the month until December 30, 2024, when he remained on the bench as an unused substitute against Newcastle .

Having not played a single minute since December 12, Amorim, in late January, publicly addressed Rashford’s need to change aspects of his game if he had any hope of returning to the squad, saying he would rather pick his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach ahead of a "player who doesn’t give maximum effort in training".

Rashford left United for the first time at the end of the January transfer window , securing a loan move to Aston Villa until the end of the season. His stint at Villa Park allowed him to rebuild his reputation and regain visibility after his exile, especially in the Champions League against PSG .

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He netted four goals and provided six assists in 940 minutes of play but his loan spell ended on a sour note due to a hamstring injury, after which he returned to Carrington. There, he was part of Amorim's five-man 'bomb squad', who were sidelined from first-team training to encourage them to seek transfers.

After biding his time for the right opportunity, Rashford secured his dream move to Barcelona in July, joining the La Liga champions on loan until the summer of 2026. In the five months since, Rashford has come close to recapturing his best form, contributing 11 assists and seven goals for the Catalans in 24 appearances.

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