Rashford’s career at Man Utd hanging in the balance? | Is Pep’s time at Man City coming to an end?
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm Rob Jones. Joining me, Jason Burt, Chief Football Correspondent of The Telegraph and the Murrah's Chief Football Writer, John Cross. Welcome to you both.

But we will start with the future of Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford. Both he and Alejandro Garnaccio left out of Sunday's victory against Manchester City in the derby at the Etihad. But a piece from Jamie Jackson in The Guardian that says Marcus Rashford has been marginalised and put up for sale by Manchester United as part of a cultural reboot and says Ruben Amorim has decided the 27-year-old needs to leave Manchester.

in order to engineer a shift in culture throughout the club. So, Jason, he said afterwards yesterday, Ruben Amrim, that a new week is a new life for players who are left out, but it seems that Marcus Rashford's time at Manchester United could be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Yeah, that does seem the case. I think if Manchester United are using phrases like cultural reboot again, I think their fans will be dropping their cocoa tonight, to be honest with you, because I'm not quite sure they want to hear that phrase ever again. It was one that we heard before with Ed Woodward. But certainly Marcus Rashford's future is in sharp focus. I mean, last week we did a story on The Telegraph saying that he was for sale and that seems to have accelerated over the last few days significantly.

with him being left out of the squad for the Manchester derby and obviously Ruben Amorin explaining why that was the case. And clearly he needs to try and fit in if he's going to have a future at the club. That's looking highly unlikely at the moment. The big question then, though, of course, is what kind of buyer they can find for him, whether they can get a deal done that somebody takes him off their hands. The fee will be a cut price free for sure, partly because the wages are so high.

So anyone who wants to buy Marcus Rashford is going to take a big financial burden onto them. In saying all of that, he's an Academy product. So although the fee will be lower if he is sold, that will be banked as pure profit. So it will feel like more money in a sense because of the PSR rules.

But certainly at the moment, it does look like if he wants to stay at Manchester United, he very much is fighting for his future. It's hard to see him fitting in with the way that Ruma Dabarin wants to play. His probably best route into the team at the moment is probably as an understudy to Rasmus Heuland. And you can't carry on like that, especially with the salary he's on. So it's going to be a big challenge.

decision in the next few weeks and months, maybe even in January, if they can get the right deal done. I don't see that quite happening. I think it'll probably be next summer, but certainly it looks like his career is coming to an end at Man Utd. John, Jason rightly mentioned the salary there a couple of times, which Jamie Jackson in The Guardian is saying is around £365,000 a week, which you would think narrows incredibly the number of clubs that could afford him.

unless we have a scenario where Manchester United continue to pay his wages after he's left just to get rid of him. Yeah, look, I'd be so surprised if we had a development in January, to be honest. I just feel if you are going to do something in the winter window, it's really got to be kind of cut price. It's got to be tailored to that market. And I do think United would end up having to take such a hit

that it would be a remarkable departure for Rashford. I personally think Rashford probably does need a fresh start. He probably does need a new set of surroundings, to be honest. He's always so proud, isn't he? And I do think this is the point, really, that it's that connection with United fans, that he is that academy graduate. He loves the club. He's got such a connection with the club.

But look, I do think he's lost his way at United. I mean, even when Amarant came in, you know, people were writing newspaper columns about, you know, him being away sort of for a quick break in New York just before the new manager came in to start training. You know, it's just...

It's not the greatest look. He's not done anything wrong in that, but does he really, really want to knuckle down and impress the new manager? And that's the point. I think Amarin quickly came in, tried to carry it with a stick and basically said, look, I see this guy as a part of my plans, but he's really got to want to really earn it and challenge him, Rashford, to knuckle down and get his career back on track.

That really hasn't worked. And look, me and Jason were both at the Etihad yesterday, both really surprised from short to see him sort of left out the squad entirely. And that really is saying something from a new manager. That's a statement from the new manager, in my view, to leave a player like Rashford out of the Manchester derby. He knows what that means to Marcus Rashford. He knows what sort of interest that will create for,

And Ruben Amarin, who I have to say has massively impressed me so far, both as manager, tactician, and then also, I think, you know, spokesman. I think he speaks so well. He spoke with, you know, real clarity after the game yesterday. He really took on board what supporters would want to hear about, sort of showing pride, not just in the shirt, but in the club, reminding people that, you know, staff and employees have lost their job through redundancies and what that means for

to a club like United who absolutely pride themselves on their history, tradition and community. And just reinforcing that message, I thought, to not just Rashford, but Garnaccio as well. And basically making that clear. And he really, really impressed me there. But the warning was clear. And I just think for Rashford, he's got to pick up on this. Look, being the cynic, you know, that I am perhaps, I think the last good spell of form that Rashford had was almost post-World Cup, wasn't it? Playing for a new contract.

He got that contract. Has he delivered, really, since he got that contract? He's a brilliant, brilliant player. He's got huge potential. And at the moment, he's not showing it at Old Trafford, I have to say. And that is part of it, Jason. It was interesting, Micah Richards on Super Sunday yesterday saying that he feels that sometimes Marcus Rashford is perhaps unfairly the fall guy at Manchester United and that whenever something's going wrong...

let's all point the finger at Marcus. But as John said, two seasons ago, he showed he could do it at 30 goals in the season. That's one reason why your form will be picked up on. Another reason is the wages. If you're one of the highest paid player at a club like Manchester United, it'll be picked up on. And then if you do things like January, where he goes to Belfast and doesn't report to training, again, you're going to be the focus of a lot of criticism, particularly when things aren't going well for the team and the club.

Yeah, they're very, very fair points to make. I think in the past, Michael Rich's point probably did hold true. I think he was perhaps regarded differently from some players, partly because he was the great young thing coming through at Manchester United. There was an awful lot of hope and expectation on his shoulders during a difficult time for the club.

He's gone beyond that point now. He's one of the senior professionals, really, at the club and certainly one of the highest paid ones. People will say, well, it's not about money. Well, unfortunately, it does come down to that to a degree because clubs have to justify salaries and players have to justify salaries. And if you're not earning the money you're being paid, then obviously that's going to be scrutinised and people are going to look at you in terms of your contribution. And unfortunately, I think also that his dip in form or his loss of form or his failure to reproduce the form he's shown in the past

has gone on for quite a long time now. And if you are giving apparent reasons for people to question your form, question your behaviour, you've got your own manager now questioning whether or not you're conducting yourself in the right manner around the club to be part of the team, as Ruben Amarin did yesterday, then yes, it's a legitimate debate as to whether or not he should be moving on or whether or not he is justifying

the status he has at Manchester United. And it may just come down to the bare fact that sometimes players need to find a fresh environment. And he's been there all his career. He holds a lot of responsibility at Manchester United. He sometimes looks like he's got the world on his shoulder because of that responsibility. And maybe he himself needs a fresh start to take him away into a different environment to kickstart his career and to give him a new place to play and a new place to...

finish the next part of his career. I think that might be what it's heading towards. In saying all of that, that may require a compromise from him, which again, we don't often see, where he might have to turn around and say to United, well, I'll take a deal that maybe I have to take a lesser salary. Now, it's a bit naive of me to say that, but I don't see that happening, obviously. But it may come down to that. If he really wants to be the player he can be again, it probably isn't going to happen for him at Manchester United. As I say, I'm

I struggle to see really where he fits into this system under Ruben Amorim. And the way that it's going with Amorim and Amorim at the moment, it doesn't see that he thinks there's a chance of Russia being a regular starter for him either. John, just to come back to Ruben Amorim and his early impressions, there's a couple of stories, the Telegraph and The Sun both feature this bid to see who's leaking the Manchester United team for games. But, but,

On a wider point, and also to include dropping Garnaccio and Rashford yesterday, it seems as though Manchester United fans are prepared to swallow maybe losing the odd match, almost on a point of principle that Garnaccio or Rashford could have made a difference yesterday. Had they lost, it would have been easy to say, well, if those two were there, you wouldn't have. But he's doing something long term, which I think Manchester United fans are prepared to buy into.

Yeah, absolutely. He wants to set a tone, basically, doesn't he? And that's what so impressed me, really. I just thought, you know, if he feels he brought up, really, the issue about behaviour, about standards, about, you know, even dress and what they eat, which you immediately think, oh, you know, what have they done, really, to kind of, you know, earn his wrath, if you like, really. But I think that the United fans have really already liked what they've seen from the new manager. You know, he's...

He's lost a few games, but he's also won games. He shows a sort of kind of a determination to put things right during games. He is obviously a smart tactician. They're a lot harder to beat, even in the games that they've lost. They really put up a fight and basically shown, you know, real commitment and desire within those things everywhere.

I like the way that he just seems to have this connection with the fans. And I think when you have that connection, the fans immediately relate to what they're seeing. And the fans will basically buy into and indulge a manager when he makes bold calls like that because they see it for the long term. Listen, I'm convinced that Garnaccio comes back and has a big future under Amarim, I have to say. I really like him. I think he's an exciting player. For Rashford, I do think he needs a fresh start.

but I tell you what, Ahmad, I mean, he was the star of the show, wasn't he? And it's just him that I think it sort of almost epitomises the new manager bounce, if you like. There's a player that seized an opportunity. We all knew that he was a good player and he's shown it in patches before, but he's

really unlocking that potential, determined to impress the new manager. I still think United need a big rebuild. I still think they need lots of new players. But I tell you what, the United fans have already seen what they like, you know, like what they've seen from Amarillo. And, you know, that's why they'll indulge a manager on big calls like this. Jason has been writing about the Manchester City manager,

Pep Guardiola and his future, that terrible run of form, continues. So Jason, an unsackable Pep Guardiola will decide when it is the right time to walk away from Manchester City. But he looks an increasingly frazzled figure, Jason, doesn't he?

He does, yeah. And this developed from a question that was legitimately asked this morning. Basically, when do you reach a point when even somebody like Pep Guardiola is in danger of being sacked? And I see that, I think the mirror I've done, that he's now raced up the odds of the next manager to go. So maybe something is afoot. But I think my understanding of the situation, having spoken to a few people and

and looked at it, is really he's in a position where he is unsackable, which is hardly rocket science, it's hardly a great revelation. But I think he's earned the right, in the way that Jurgen Klopp did, to dictate his own future. And I think the fact that he signed this new two-year contract, obviously his intention is to stay. His intention is to undertake a huge rebuild at Manchester City, which...

I think they realised it should have started last summer, but there were lots of reasons why they didn't do it then. I think partly because they wanted to give it one more year. They wanted to see what Pep wanted to do. Achievement Berg-Eristheim was going to go. A new supporting director was coming in.

and all of that. They were just trying to hold on for one more year. They realised that was a mistake. Pep was initially going to sign a new 12-month contract. He signed a new two-year deal to show basically his faith and also that he thinks that it will help, you know, pride more stability around the club. However, nobody expected this run of form. So it does reach a point where you're starting to think this has to start to change. This has to turn around. And I think one of the key things that will happen is they'll be much more active in January than we expected. I think that will be an indicator of where Pep is at.

In saying all of that, his body language isn't great. Sometimes he's almost talking himself out of a job. He talked about not being good enough yesterday. And the point I make is, could any other manager in the Premier League have said that yesterday without there being a huge outcry of, you know, even within the club, what does he mean? You know, how can he possibly say he's not good enough? But Pep's earned that right.

So to cut a long story short, I think he does dictate his own future. He will decide one day and speak to Caldwell Norma Barak, the chairman, that that's it, he's finished. It could happen any time in the next two and a half years or even the next five years. But I think it will be definitely his decision. I can't see him ever being sacked by Manchester City. Do you think, though, John, and Jason makes a lot of comparisons between Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp and his piece, and understandably so, but Jurgen Klopp obviously came out fantastic.

just after the midway point of last season and said, end of the season, I'm done. Could you ever see a scenario where, almost on the spot, he says, I'm finished now. If this run was to continue into the new year, would he just say enough is enough? Well, look, I...

I must say, Jason knows how much I like him and respect him as a journalist, and I completely agree with his piece. I think he's absolutely nailed it there because it has to be on Pep's terms. I personally think he's veering on for being the best manager we've ever seen in the Premier League era. I think the way that he's developed football and developed Manchester City, the way that he's

this winning machine is sensational. Put the boot in there, the mirror headline that we're seeing there. I think he's up for second favourite now, isn't he? And in the Premier League sack race. Well, look, could I see him walking? When I look at him yesterday, a close quarter, I was in the press conference room after the game and he looks a broken man. His team look finished. They look absolutely cooked. Absolutely.

And basically they look exhausted. They look completely done. This generation is done. You know, Gundogan's too slow. De Bruyne, you know, what a player he's been. He's been one of the Premier League all-time greats. But he's just, he's come to, I mean, it was, you almost feel pity for him. De Bruyne is an absolute City and Premier League legend.

And now he's struggling to get about the pitch. It's really, you know, they've left it too long. You know, Kyle Walker, you know, making his podcast, you'll never beat Kyle Walker. Frankly, at the moment, everyone beats Kyle Walker and it's, you know, everything's going wrong really for City. And, you know, Walker's such a good player. I think he's, you know, recently been playing with an injury. That's,

shows you how determined he is, but also how short City are. So you kind of, you know, you've got to balance things up, really. But they do need a rebuild. I still think that on the one hand, it wouldn't shock me, if I'm honest, that Guardiola suddenly thought, do you know what? Enough is enough. You know, I've done my absolute best, which he has, by the way. Four in a row has exhausted him, I think.

And, you know, thanks very much. See you later. But there's no way in the world I think that City sack him. But could I see him doing a Klopp, if you like? At the moment, I probably could. I don't think he will, though. I think he'll see it out. I really hope he does, because I do think this guy's a genius. And part of the reason I could see it, Jason, is whilst the comparisons are obvious between him and Klopp...

Jurgen Klopp knew fallow times. He was relegated at Mainz. He had big dips at Dortmund. He'd had a dip or two previously at Liverpool. Whereas Pep Guardiola knows nothing but success. He is in the most uncharted of waters at the moment. And maybe that is leading into why he looks so lost, because he doesn't know anything other than incredible success. No, that's undoubtedly true. I would agree with that. The

The counter argument to that is surely then that should make him all the more determined to stay, because if he did leave, if he did cut and run effectively, then he would be opened up to all sorts of criticism that, you know, he could only really thrive as a manager or he could only really be successful as a manager when he had all these resources and it was all working for him. He needs to be in a situation perhaps where things aren't so great and things aren't.

you know, all going in his favor and he is in the middle of a slump and he does have to change team and he does have to rebuild. Obviously, he did a rebuild at Barcelona when he first went in, but that rebuild involved moving on players like Ibrahimovic and having players like Messi coming through who are already in the academy. At

Manchester City is going to be a much more wholesale transfer window driven rebuild of players who need to move on who have gone to the well so many times with him and for him and can't do it anymore and the question is can he still go to the well you know he's already said this is going to be his last club

So that in itself has put a finite end to things because he won't manage another football club. He might manage a country. He probably will manage a country. So this period will help define how he's regarded as a manager. He's clearly one of the greatest managers ever. We know that. But if he does leave, which I don't think he will, but if he does leave earlier than we expect...

then people will criticize him for that. And he'll open himself up to a lot of criticism. I think to a degree, he won't worry about that too much because he's quite an open character in many ways. And he does wear his heart on his sleeve. He does say what he thinks. But I think also he needs to think about, you know, how that could play in terms of his own character

and how that would also play around, how that would leave City. So I think all those factors are going to contribute. But I think he will stay. I think he will see through this rebuild. He'll get through this bump. He will re-energise himself and go again. But I think January will be interesting. I think they need to do a couple of big signings in January just to sort of stabilise things and get back on track.

Let's just race through a couple of other football stories, if we can. In the sun, John, Liverpool £100,000 short on persuading Trent Alexander-Arnold to sign a new deal, writes Ken Lawrence. Currently on £180,000, Liverpool prepared to go to £250,000, but Trent wanting £350,000. Of the three that are out of contract with Salah and Van Dijk, the other two, does Trent Alexander-Arnold look the most likely to leave to you?

Yeah, he does. I do think that Van Dijk, surely that will be a given. I do think Mo Salah, you know, is just about sort of making the right offer at the right time, if you like. And also, you know, Liverpool kind of covering their backs, makes sure they don't sign him off for too long. But Trent, I just feel as if, you know, I don't...

I bet if Liverpool, and I think they will win the title this season, if Liverpool win the title and Trent Alexander-Arnold leaves on a free to explore something new at Real Madrid, I don't think any Liverpool fan will hold it against him. And why wouldn't he? And I think this isn't so much about money. It's about a new adventure. So I do think, yes, they could make him an incredible offer. But my hunch just, I don't know, maybe veering towards him joining Real Madrid on a free in the summer.

Just finally, Jason, there's some images of the Monday night football as well on the back pages. That's some with Lucas Pakitar's celebration with Julien Lopetegui denied an important victory with that late Enes Unau free kick for Bournemouth. The West Ham head coach seems to be the next in the firing line. That victory against Wolves last Monday hasn't done huge amounts, you would say, to alleviate the pressure long term.

I think it's, well, no, not long term. I think in the short term, it definitely has. I think not losing the short tonight is big for them. Bournemouth is a difficult place to go and achieve some very big results against some big teams. And I think the manner of the game as well, the way they played, obviously there was a lot of pressure. I think it will buy in more time.

If you're asking me whether he'll be the manager of West Ham at the end of the season, my hunch is he won't be. But he will see through this period and probably around Christmas and New Year going into the January window. But I would say it's definitely one to carry on watching and keep a watching brief on. And I don't think he's definitely out of the woods yet. OK, gentlemen, thank you very much indeed. Jason Burt and John Cross with us this Monday evening. Good to have you with us, chaps.