Ruben Amorim has broken his silence on Marcus Rashford after the Manchester United forward 'responded' to public comments by his manager after Sunday's 1-0 win over Fulham.
Rashford hasn't played for United since he was dropped from the matchday squad to take on Manchester City on December 12.
He was named on the bench for the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle on December 28 but otherwise hasn't been involved at all for the Red Devils in over a month.
Speculation has abounded over Rashford's future ever since he told Henry Winter that he thought he was 'ready for a new challenge' just a day after being left out of the Manchester derby squad.
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Barcelona, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund have all been linked with a loan move for the forward, whose contract at Old Trafford expires in 2028.
As of now, however, the 27-year-old remains at United - and he was again brought up in Sunday's press conference after United beat Fulham at Craven Cottage.
When asked about Rashford, Amorim replied: "It's always the same reason - the training, the way I see a footballer should do in life. It's every day, it's every detail.
"If things don't change, I will not change. It's the same situation for every player. If you do the maximum and right things, we can use every player."
In what then appeared to be a more general statement aimed at his United squad, he added: "You can see on the bench, we miss a bit of pace on the bench.
"But I would put [goalkeeping coach, Jorge] Vital before a player who doesn't give the maximum every day."
Following those comments, Rashford posted a message to Instagram which simply read: "Congratulations on the win, lads." It is unclear whether he had already been aware of Amorim's remarks.
Now, ahead of United's Europa League clash with Steaua Bucharest on Thursday, the Portuguese boss has clarified his own comments from Sunday's press conference.
Now, he has said: "I don't want to give messages to anyone.
"I'm just very clear about what the players have to do. I'm demanding in certain things, but then I'm a coach like everyone else.
"There are just certain red lines that I feel that, for a group to win games and titles, you have to follow a criteria.
"And so, if there's no such criteria, then it's all very subjective. And there are certain things that we have to be very clear with the players.
"That's just it. I don't want to send messages to anyone."
Topics: Ruben Amorim, Marcus Rashford, Manchester United
Ryan Smart