It did not end well for the six Manchester United players who publicly asked to leave

Manchester United were given short notice of Marcus Rashford's interview on Tuesday night, Ineos have trimmed the workforce in the under-resourced communications department, Ruben Amorim arrived at Carrington at 7am on Wednesday morning and attended his press conference at 9am.

Amorim has got United pressing on the front foot and he is more than a match for the press on non-matchdays. He invited Rashford to a different "challenge" from the transfer he has in mind.

At the time Amorim spoke to us, he had not spoken to Rashford in three days. Rashford was unwell on Monday and off on Tuesday. Amorim fielded 16 questions centred on Rashford across the open and embargoed sections and ended the 14-minute briefing with a smile.

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Nobody fretted about Amorim's first onerous engagement with the media. He had the conviction to drop the Wythenshawe-born local hero for the Manchester derby on Sunday and United won, with a more popular winger the matchwinner.

Do not be deceived by Amorim's diplomacy. In the embargoed section, he cautioned that he can be "emotional" and was unsure how he would handle Rashford. There were some rumours of a dressing room dust-up between head coach and player but nothing concrete has come to light.

United supporters at the Etihad chanted Amorim's name and they will doubtless do so again at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Whether Rashford is there or not, his chant is unlikely to be added to the matchday playlist.

Rashford's brother and agent, Dwaine Maynard, stayed in the same hotel as United in Plzen last week. Family and club are no longer as close.

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