Ruben Amorim 'thankful' that Marcus Rashford saga is over after Man United outcast completed loan move to Aston Villa

Ruben Amorim expressed his relief that Marcus Rashford has completed his loan move to Aston Villa and brought an end to questions over the Manchester United star’s problems at Old Trafford.

Amorim hasn’t played Rashford for the last 13 games and even went so far as to say he would rather pick his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital than the England international due to concerns over his attitude to training.

Speculation has raged around Rashford’s future over the last few months and Amorim was repeatedly asked about it before the 27-year-old joined Villa late in the January transfer window.

Asked about Rashford ahead of United’s FA Cup tie against Leicester City at Old Trafford on Friday night, Amorim said it was ‘thankfully’ over and the questions can now be directed to Villa boss Unai Emery.

‘Like we said before, we are fighting for our jobs until the summer and I am just focused on these games,’ said Amorim. ‘Thankfully Marcus is in Birmingham now with Unai, so you can take these questions this month to another coach. We are just focused on our players.’

Rashford’s departure has left United even lighter on firepower after Antony joined Real Betis on loan. Amorim decided to use Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine and leave Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee on the bench in Sunday’s defeat to Crystal Palace, but he is pinning his hopes on the rest of United’s attack stepping up to the plate.

Rashford had been frozen out in his final weeks at Manchester United

Ruben Amorim has claimed he’s thankful that Rashford has gone so that he will not have to answer any more questions on the saga

‘We have to find players to play in different positions,’ he added. ‘You can see the way we play it’s going to take time and not solve all the problems. You can say with (Patrick) Dorgu, we have one more winger to play on both sides.

‘We create chances and we don’t score. We have many shots inside the box and catch (hit) one player. Amad (Diallo) can score more, Bruno (Fernandes) can score more, Kobbie Mainoo can score more playing in that position on the pitch. We have to improve as a team, we have a little bit of time.’