'Something happened' – Rio Ferdinand has Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho suspicions

Rio Ferdinand believes Ruben Amorim dropped Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho for the Manchester derby because he "heard or saw something he was unhappy with" in training.

Amorim, who took over as Manchester United's head coach in November, caused shockwaves on Sunday by leaving two of his most dangerous forwards out of the squad for the short trip to Manchester City.

Despite the bold call, his team managed to secure a 2-1 victory thanks to two late goals, with young starlet Amad playing a key role in the comeback. Amorim has since been praised for demonstrating his authority by dropping Rashford and Garnacho ahead of one of United's most important games of the season.

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Amorim gave a telling interview following the win where he outlined the criteria he uses to select his team. His comments led United legend Ferdinand to speculate the decision to drop Garnacho and Rashford may have been influenced by their behaviour at Carrington, perhaps something as minor as failing to greet staff members.

Speaking on his Rio Presents podcast, the former defender said: “This manager doesn’t seem to be the type of guy that will let stuff slide. He seems to be a very honest and straightforward guy. We saw Erik ten Hag do this early, going against players.

“But in time, the consistency wasn’t there across the board with other players. The squad then starts picking holes in that. I’d like to think it’s different with Amorim, he seems very direct, ‘you’re not playing – that’s it and that’s why’.

“I think in the training