Gary Pallister: It’s probably best for Marcus Rashford to leave Man United | OneFootball

Pallister gave his thoughts on why Amorim might have started slowly in the Premier League, Man United’s aims for the rest of the season and the Europa League.

He also spoke about the future of Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo, and Man United’s priorities in the January transfer window.

Ruben Amorim has had a bit of a rocky start to life as Man United manager, at least in the Premier League. Why do you think he’s taken a while to really get up and running?

I think he’s just been asking questions of his squad. I think he’s given everybody a chance to impress. He wants to have a look at them himself, live. He’s changed the team an awful lot. And I think he’s now coming to terms with who he believes is right for his team.

He’s obviously going to keep playing his system. He wants people to adapt to that. I think you’re right in what you say, it’s taken him a while, but I think there are fundamental reasons for that. And I would suggest that the team are understanding him. He’s starting to understand the team and the last two performances are certainly what you’d expect of a Manchester United side.

So yeah, he’s learning on the job. He’s learning as he goes along. I’m sure he said it himself, it’s a tougher job than he ever thought. And I think there are signs from the last couple of games that he’s getting to grips with that.

We’re now in the second half of the season. What should Man United and Ruben Amorim’s aims be for the remainder of the campaign?

Well I would suggest the only way into the Champions League is probably going to be through the Europa League. For a club the size of Manchester United to miss out as many times as they have in recent years, is hard to swallow. I think he would be looking at the Europa League as a gateway through to the Champions League, and getting as far up that table as possible.

Nobody likes to see Manchester United languishing in the bottom half of the division. So to get back to an even power, we need to be in that top half and pushing towards the European places. So I think that would be the remit I would suggest.

And is there a world where it’s better for Man United to prioritise winning the Europa League as a route back into the Champions League? Regardless of what it might mean for their league finish?

That’s a good question. I’m not sure what the gap is now between a qualifying place for the Europa League or the Conference League. Is it top six, or seven would qualify for that? So I think that’s within their bounds to get up into that kind of position. But I’m sure he’s got one eye on qualifying for the Champions League through the Europa League.

I mean, we’ve got a squad that I would suggest is good enough to do that, if he can get them all playing to the very best of their ability, and get this team ethic that we’ve been searching for for such a long time. I think there are signs of it. So if we’re getting the fundamentals right, then we’ve got enough quality in the side to maybe go on and challenge for that Europa League final place and get into the Champions League. So I think he’ll be taking that competition really seriously.

Man United have been linked to a handful of attacking players in recent days. Are they right in seemingly prioritising their attack in the January transfer window?

I’m not sure if he [Amorim] has gone on record, but it seems to be the noise coming out of Old Trafford that they’re searching for a centre forward. They’ve been linked with (Viktor) Gyokeres and the lad from Napoli (Khvicha Kvaratskhelia), so I don’t think there’s any secret that they’re looking for that goal scorer that can guarantee them 20, 25 goals a season.

I don’t think (Joshua) Zirkzee is an out-and-out centre forward, (Rasmus) Hojlund is still a young lad and still has a lot to learn I would think. Those centre forwards, as Arsenal are finding out, they’re hard to come by. And you pay top dollar to get them out of their clubs. So yeah, I don’t think it’s a surprise that they’re searching for forwards.

Another big transfer rumour this month regards the future of Marcus Rashford. Do you think his time at Man United is up?

You’ve only got to see and read about Marcus over the last few weeks. He came out not long after he got dropped I think and said that he’s looking for new challenges. I think once a player has said that and made it known, then I think it’s probably best for him to leave. It’s a shame because he’s one of the academy players. The fans really took to him when he came into the club and arrived in such a spectacular fashion.

But it looks almost like the club has come to a bit of an impasse with him, and he looks like he’s going to move on. As I say, it’s a shame because he’s a talented player. But over the last couple of seasons, or last season and a half, we probably haven’t seen it enough. We’re kind of second-guessing what’s going on there with the manager, with the club, with the player. But it looks like he’s heading towards the exit door and United have got to try and get the best deal they can, to help them fund the next foray into the transfer market.

Ruben Amorim recently said Man United need to improve recruitment and the academy. How important is it to Man United’s identity that they always have a pathway for academy graduates?

I think it’s huge. It’s been a massive part of the club since Sir Matt (Busby) walked through the doors and talked about his youth policy, and bringing in local talent and giving youth its chance. I think it’s been taken on board by nearly every manager that’s been there since.

It’s interesting to see him sort of saying the academy needs to improve as well. I don’t know what’s been seen there, but we’re still getting players coming through. Kobbie (Mainoo) has been the latest in the list. I know Amad Diallo came in from abroad, but he came in as a young kind, so he’s come through a bit of the academy as well. So yeah, it’s hugely important.

It is part of the identity of Manchester City that they do give youth a chance. And it’s a bit surprising to hear him say it needs to improve. Certainly recruitment, I don’t think there’s any hiding away from that. We’ve got it largely wrong over the last God knows how many years. And we’ve frittered away quite a bit of money on players that haven’t really worked out. So I think that’s got to be addressed.

Obviously, Dan Ashworth left so that’s a rethink on the direction there. I know we’re a very wealthy club, but as I say we’ve frittered away quite a bit of money in recent years.

Again, for the reasons we’ve just talked about. I think he arrived with a huge fanfare after his performances for England in the summer. The early part of the season, I think it caught up with him a little bit. I don’t think we saw the same kind of levels of performance from Kobbie that we’d seen previously. I think that is due to everything, the tiredness, a young kid being in the spotlight the way he was, the expectation. I think everything might have caught up with him a little bit.

But we’re now seeing him coming back to his best form. And I find it quite alarming that there’s talk about clubs coming in for him and that United might have to be open to offers because of Financial Fair Play. I hope he keeps hold of Kobbie because, again, it’s part of the identity, the young kid coming through. He seems to be an exceptional talent. He made that step up to England level seamlessly. And I think it wouldn’t look great if Manchester United were to lose it. So hopefully a deal can be done, he wants to be part of the club. The club certainly would want him to stay, and I’m pretty sure Ruben would too.

He’s taking the bull by the horns. He obviously arrived on the scene last year and scored some important goals. He’s another one that I think probably started the season rather quietly. And I think he looked like a player that was still trying to win a shirt at Old Trafford, and the pressure was sort of mounting on him a little bit.

I think, now, he’s playing like a player who knows he owns the shirt. I think he’s expressing himself, he’s fearless, he’s hard-working, he’s obviously got a goal in him as well. And I think he’s certainly been one of the outstanding players, certainly under Amorim, he’s probably the most outstanding player. So it was hugely important that he signed. I think he’s got a really bright future. I think he’s got an end product, for a small lad he punches his weight as well. So I’m delighted he’s signed a long-term contract because he really looks a special talent.