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RUBEN AMORIM wants Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho to stay at Manchester United and lead a bright future.

Young pair Mainoo, 19, and 20-year-old Garnacho have been linked with moves away from Old Trafford in this window with the club aiming to keep in line with Profit and Sustainability Rules.

Reuters

Ruben Amorim wants to build his Man Utd team around Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo but both could still be sold[/caption]

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The academy duo shone in Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League win over FCSB but Amorim does not want to lose them before Monday’s transfer deadline.

The United boss said: “I want players like Kobbie and Garnacho.”

Mainoo and Garnacho are valued at £70million each and cost-cutting co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe could certainly sell either if the right offer comes in.

Earlier in the window, Chelsea were considering a bid for Garnacho.

The Argentine winger was left out of December’s Manchester derby win over City — like Marcus Rashford — for poor training performances.

But Garnacho is back and set up Mainoo for the second goal in Romania.

Amorim, whose side host Crystal Palace tomorrow, added: “He changed right after that City game. He’s improving but it’s not from me — it’s the way he understands things.

“I just want to help him. He understands sometimes I am a different coach.

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“That I’m demanding in my way and sometimes it is hard to make the first impact.

“All the merit is for Garnacho. He understood the position, playing inside and outside. The connection with Mainoo.”

England midfielder Mainoo has also been strongly linked with £60m move to Chelsea this window, with German giants Bayern Munich eyeing a swoop as well.

The academy graduate is deadlocked over a new contract as he wants a new long–term deal worth £180,000-a-week but United are understood to have offered half that.

Yet Amorim is convinced the teenager, who played in a more advanced role in Bucharest, is also getting on-message as he continues United’s tactical rehabilitation.

He said of Mainoo’s drop in form: “I don’t think it was the contract. Everybody in England sees him as a very good player. He played in the Euros final.

“The key point is the position. It is different for him. It demands a lot. Now I feel more happy to play him.”

  Печінку може зруйнувати не тільки зловживання алкоголем. Експерти назвали три нешкідливі звички, які можуть призвести до серйозних наслідків, інформує Ukr.Media. Фрукти Велике споживання фруктів може призвести до неприємностей із печінкою. Різні дослідження доводять, що фруктоза підвищує ризик жирової хвороби органу. Багато людей уникають жирів і вуглеводів заради здоров’я, але далеко не всі звертають увагу […]

Фото: pexels.com | Журавлі взимку можуть передвіщати теплу зиму (ілюстративне фото)   Перелітні сірі журавлі зимують у південних країнах і зазвичай повертаються до України в березні. Їхня рання поява може свідчити про теплу зиму та зміни клімату. У небі над Волинською областю 27 січня помітили перших сірих журавлів. Зазвичай ці перелітні птахи зимують у теплих […]

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EIGHTEEN months ago, having signed a contract worth £84.5million, it seemed Marcus Rashford could do no wrong.

Now, with the transfer window closing on Monday night, the Manchester United striker faces being left out in the cold for the rest of the season — with only the size of his bank balance for comfort.

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It’s a dramatic change of fortune for the former academy prodigy, who scored 30 goals in 56 games before signing a five-year deal in 2023.

The life-changing contract guaranteed Rashford £325,000 a week if he stayed at Old Trafford until 2028 — and millions more in bonuses if he helped Manchester United back to its glory days by winning trophies.

With 178 weeks left on his contract, he is guaranteed to earn £57.85million — unless he leaves the club.

Off the pitch, his campaigning on child food poverty earned Marcus widespread plaudits and an MBE.

The footballer also became a bestselling children’s author too, with his Breakfast Club novels drawing on his own upbringing in Wythenshawe, Manchester.

Not bad for a kid from a tough part of town who made his Old Trafford debut in 2016 aged just 18.

But now Rashford, 27, has become a £60million problem for United.

The Sun understands the multi-millionaire player may have met his match in the club’s billionaire minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who he feels wants him out as part of his cost-cutting regime.

‘He feels picked on’

And the speed of the star striker’s demise to persona non grata has left him “bewildered and devastated”, a source said.

They added: “Marcus thinks Sir Jim wants him out of the club and has basically told manager Ruben Amorim to get him out.

“He might just have met his match with Sir Jim.”

The England international has been bombed out of the team for the past 12 games under Amorim and is likely to miss a 13th on Sunday when United play Crystal Palace.

The first signs of Rashford’s demise from one of football’s biggest stars to the founding member of United’s “Bomb squad” can be traced back well before Amorim’s recent arrival.

Respected United We Stand fanzine editor Andy Mitten recently told TalkSport: “Every previous manager has had issues with Rashford. They’ve told me in confidence going back years and years and years.”

Under Erik ten Hag, he was twice admonished by the Dutchman for nights out.

He described Rashford enjoying himself at Manchester’s Chinawhite following a 3-0 defeat by Man City in October 2023 as “unacceptable”.

Three months later, Rashford was fined two weeks’ wages after calling in sick for training after a tequila-fuelled two-night bender in Belfast.

His career on the pitch has never recovered, while off it further problems have mounted up.

In July he was handed a six-month driving ban after being caught doing 104 mph on the M60 in December 2023.

District judge Lucy Hogarth handed him six penalty points which saw him banned as he had already been hit with six points in February 2023 after exceeding the 20mph limit in Manchester city centre.

And in September 2023 his Rolls Royce was written off after he collided with a grandmother while driving home late at night.

Work on a luxury mansion on a former golf course has also placed a strain on Rashford’s finances and appears to have ground to a halt, with the property lying empty.

AP

New Utd manager Ruben Amorim gives instructions to Rashford[/caption]

AP

Rashford and his mum Melanie[/caption]

PA

Prince William awarded Rashford an MBE in 2021 for his work on child food poverty[/caption]

Family relations have also been put under strain when his agent brother Dane was arrested — and later cleared — on suspicion of domestic assault while on holiday in Miami in November 2023.

Marcus and his other brother and fellow agent Dwayne attempted to distance themselves from Dane before he was brought back into the fold ahead of a potential transfer.

Rashford — awarded an MBE in 2021 for his work on child food poverty — has always maintained football always comes first.

But his off-pitch distractions have coincided with an extended loss of form which has seen some fans turn on the star, posting videos on social media of him highlighting what they say is a lack of commitment.

Portuguese manager Amorim this week warned: “Rashford has to change. We have to set some standards.

“We are waiting for Marcus if he wants it really bad.”

Rashford has to change. We have to set some standards. We are waiting for Marcus if he wants it really bad

Ruben Amorim

Days earlier, Amorim said he would rather pick his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach than a player “who doesn’t give the maximum every day”.

The insider added: “Marcus feels like he is being picked on.

“In the early days of training under Amorim, he was trying to learn new systems and other players were also struggling — but he was the one who was getting more vocal criticism.

“He knows he needs to leave but he’s shocked that no big team has pulled out all the stops to get him. There’s been interest but financially it’s a complicated deal and that’s put quite a few teams off.

“Marcus has been left bewildered by how quickly his relationship with Amorim has disintegrated.”

Just 13 days after Amorim started at United in November, Rashford scored against Ipswich within two minutes of kick-off.

The Mega Agency

Rashford teamed up with fashion house Burberry to get kids reading[/caption]

PA

A source said: ‘Marcus thinks Sir Jim wants him out of the club and has basically told manager Ruben Amorim to get him out’[/caption]

He got two more goals against Everton on December 1 and praised the new manager’s “exciting” ideas.

The Sun can reveal problems between Amorim and Rashford came to a head when the manager accused him of going out two nights before the Everton game.

During a tense conversation, Amorim accused Rashford of behaving unprofessionally. The source said: “Marcus got called in by the manager who said he believed he had breached discipline by going out.

“Marcus denied it and was adamant he had done nothing wrong. He asked the manager to show him the proof he’d been out and said something along the lines of, ‘Are you calling me a liar?’

“Their relationship has never recovered, and it’s hard to see how it ever will now.”

The pair endured an uneasy truce before Amorim dropped Rashford — and winger Alejandro Garnacho — from the squad for the derby game against City on December 15, which United won 2-1.

Their relationship has never recovered, and it’s hard to see how it ever will now

Sun source

Afterwards Amorim explained his decision, saying: “The performance in training, the way you eat, the way you push your team-mates — everything is important at the beginning of something.”

Two days later, Rashford hit back with an unscheduled interview which caught the club by surprise.

Visiting his former primary school to hand out Christmas presents, he told journalist Henry Winter: “I think I’m ready for a new challenge.

“When I leave it’s going to be ‘no hard feelings’. You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United.

“If I know that a situation is already bad I’m not going to make it worse.

“I’ve seen how other players have left in the past and I don’t want to be that person. When I leave I’ll make a statement and it will be from me. I don’t have any regrets from the last nine years.”

This week Winter said: “Rashford is on a lot of money. For Amorim to invest in the squad and for the type of players he wants, they need to move some players out.”

Rashford, who has few close friends in the dressing room, has been advised by United legend Wayne Rooney to find a new club.

Rashford is on a lot of money. For Amorim to invest in the squad and for the type of players he wants, they need to move some players out

Henry Winter

Wazza said on the Stick To Football podcast: “I’ve spoken to Marcus a couple of times.

“For him to have a fresh start, he needs to leave the club. The fact that your manager is coming out and saying that you’re not training right is crazy.”

The comments came after Rashford’s brothers Dwayne and Dane spent the last few weeks courting top European clubs including AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona in an attempt to strike a move away from Old Trafford.

A £35million-a-year contract from an unnamed Saudi club has also been mooted but was turned down as Rashford still hopes to add to his 60 England international caps.

Now the rumour mill is tipping him for a move to Aston Villa.

‘I’ve made sacrifices’

Understanding Rashford’s current mindset is difficult, with the player keeping his cards close to his chest and only trusting a small circle of mostly family members who help with his career.

But in February 2024, the player gave a rare insight by penning an article for the Player’s Tribune.

He said: “I’m a human being. I’ve made mistakes that a lot of lads in their 20s make, and I’ve tried to learn from them. But I’ve also made sacrifices that nobody sees.

“Money is not what keeps you playing through the hard times. It’s the love of the game, plain and simple.

“If you back me, good. If you doubt me, even better.”

Rashford, who has won the FA Cup twice with United, is regarded by some at the club as a player who struggles to build relationships and lacks leadership skills.

The disconnect was highlighted recently when pictures were released of Rashford greeting teammates in the dressing room ahead of United’s clash against Newcastle United on December 30 — while still wearing his headphones.

Sir Jim and Rashford can only hope that over the next 48 hours, they can reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion, because rekindling the once-warm relationship between club and player seems unlikely.

Our source said: “Marcus is determined that he’s not going to do what the club want to do unless it is the right thing for him.

“There is no happiness anymore. Marcus is a £60million problem for United. But the onus is on the club to solve it.”

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Rashford became a bestselling children’s author too, with his Breakfast Club novels drawing on his own upbringing in Wythenshawe, Manchester[/caption]

GARDAI have seized suspected fake Apple products, suspected counterfeit phone cases, luxury goods and cash during two raids today.

Cops carried out two searches under warrant at business and residential premises in the Dublin 1 and Dublin 13 areas.

Garda Info

During the raids, they seized 180 suspected counterfeit Apple Air Pod Max headphones, 185 suspected counterfeit fake Otterbox mobile phone cases, luxury goods and cash.

The suspected counterfeit Apple Air Pod Max headphones have an estimated loss of revenue of €104,400.

While the 185 suspected counterfeit fake Otterbox mobile phone cases have an estimated loss of revenue of €5,500.

Gardai also seized €25,710 cash and luxury goods with an estimated value of €6,000.

The designer branded goods included items by Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Balenciaga and Hermes.

Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary, Dublin Metropolitan Region, said: “The Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT) have once again shown their effectiveness in tackling Organised Criminal Gangs operating across our capital city.

“Large-scale Intellectual Property theft and the associated Money Laundering offences are controlled by well-structured criminal networks who risk the safety of the public by selling poor quality counterfeit products, often attempting to pass them off as genuine.”

The raids were held between An Garda Síochána Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) Intellectual Property and Counterfeit Investigations Unit, and the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT), assisted by the National Criminal Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI).

The suspected counterfeit items are now subject to examination.

A garda spokesperson added: “Today, Friday 31st January 2025, as part of an operation targeting Intellectual Property (IP) crime, An Garda Síochána carried out two searches under warrant, at business and residential premises in the Dublin 1 and Dublin 13 areas, seizing luxury goods, suspected counterfeit items and cash.

“The searches were conducted by the An Garda Síochána Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) Intellectual Property and Counterfeit Investigations Unit, and the Dublin Crime Response Team (DCRT), assisted by the National Criminal Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI).

“Items seized included 180 suspected counterfeit Apple Air Pod Max headphones, with an estimated loss of revenue of €104,400.

“185 suspected counterfeit fake Otterbox mobile phone cases with an estimated loss of revenue of €5,500.

“Luxury goods by brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Balenciaga and Hermes – with an estimated value of €6,000. €25,710 cash.”

Gardai said no arrests have been made at this time.

Garda Info

WAKING up with a pounding head, Claire Taylor caught sight of the designer shopping bags littered around her bed.

She cautiously peered into them, trying to work out what she had bought, while feeling sick as she totted up the cost.

supplied

Claire Taylor was bankrupt & homeless after blowing £250k when drunk[/caption]

supplied

Claire has spent thousands on designer sunglasses[/caption]

It was a scenario she knew all too well.

A couple of drinks over lunch with the girls would turn into a few more.

From there, she would wander off for a spot of shopping, splashing out thousands on her credit card in London’s designer boutiques.

Come evening, she would head out for the night, polishing off a couple of bottles of champagne, followed by ten mojitos.

While Claire’s life seemed privileged, she was alcohol dependent — and in 2014 she was declared bankrupt, owing £250,000.

Speaking as Dry January came to a close, the 59-year-old events manager says: “My life was carnage. I was out of control but telling myself it was fun.

“I’d wake up in the morning with a crushing hangover and feel sick about the money I’d spent.

“But I’d escape from those feelings by drinking more, and then I’d shop again.

“I once walked into Roberto Cavalli and put £6,000 worth of designer dresses on my card when tipsy after a bottle of champagne. Another time, I bought eight pairs of designer shoes, costing £3,000 in total, in about half an hour.

“It was done on impulse because I wasn’t thinking straight after drinking.

“I’d row with my husband about my excessive spending. I’d tell myself it had to stop, but I didn’t.

“I feel ashamed and embarrassed about my behaviour now.

“Far from stopping me, shop assistants in posh stores would often provide more fizz and encourage me to shop.”

One survey revealed that more than 55 per cent of us shop when under the influence, spending £4.46billion a year.

More than one in four says that clothes are the first thing they buy.

‘Was in denial’

But Claire didn’t stop at clothes.

She spent thousands on sunglasses, shoes and handbags.

She also spent £25,000 on a trip to New York and a cruise round the Bahamas with her kids, Harleigh, now 31, and Ollie, 28.

It sounds glamorous, but as the mum-of-two candidly admits: “Alcohol dependency never is. I wasn’t on the street swigging out of a vodka bottle, but my drinking put me in dangerous situations. I let my kids down and ultimately became bankrupt.

“Now I’ve stopped drinking, I’m so much happier.

“I’m there for my children, I’m no longer in debt and only spend within my means. I’ve gone from a size 16 to 12 and look 20 years younger.”

Claire’s drinking crept up on her over the years.

The occasional boozy lunch with her then husband, a businessman, followed by a splurge in the shops escalated over time.

She says: “He sold his business in 2002 and suddenly we had a lot of money.

“What was once a treat became a habit as my drinking increased. When I shopped, there was no thought about what I needed, only what I wanted.

“If I saw a dress or jumper I liked I’d buy it in every colour. Some purchases I loved — I’ve still got all of the Roberto Cavalli dresses.

“Other times, I would put them to the back of my wardrobe as I didn’t even like them.

“I once went through my cupboard and found 50 bottles of unopened perfume. I had no recollection of buying them. I loved sunglasses and would buy dozens at a time.”

In 2011, Claire’s marriage came to an end after 19 years.

She says: “We’d grown apart and it had become toxic, so we split. Looking back, I see my drinking played a part, but at the time I was in denial.”

Claire moved into a rental property and shared custody of the children with her ex.

She says: “Far from it being a wake-up call, I got worse.

“I was struggling emotionally after my divorce. Between 2011 and 2014 I was living off borrowed money — the bank let me keep spending as we had properties and investments between us.”

By 2014, Claire had racked up £250,000 in debt.

She says: “I’d have three-day drinking binges, recover for four days and then it would start again.

“One night, shortly after my divorce, I blew £1,700 buying drinks for all my friends. They never worried about my spending as they spent lots, too.

“Another time, I was so drunk I decided to stay in a Mayfair hotel and spent £1,200 for a suite, just for me. I didn’t make it to the bedroom, passing out on the sofa.

“I booked holidays with friends and then didn’t make it to the airport.

“I’ve lost count of the amount of flights I had to rebook, costing hundreds of pounds. I lurched from one disaster to another. I was banned from my favourite restaurant for being obnoxious.

“I was once so drunk, the taxi driver had to carry me into my house. I shudder at the thought of what could have happened.”

But the thing that pains Claire most about those years is the effect it had on her kids.

She says: “One of my worst memories is Mother’s Day 2014. They’d arranged a lunch for me and I was too hungover to get there.

“I left them sitting in a restaurant, with balloons tied to their chairs, waiting for me.”

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Claire recalls a time she bought eight pairs of designer shoes, costing £3,000 in total, in about half an hour[/caption]

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Claire and her collection of expensive handbags[/caption]

It was the same year Claire was declared bankrupt. She was the victim of a fraudulent investment and the bank cut off her spending.

She had to sell the former marital home to pay off her debt and, due to the bankruptcy, she could not get any credit.

But even that wasn’t the reality check she needed. “I had a lot of jewellery and watches, so I sold them, which paid my rent in advance,” she says.

“And then I got a job working in a fitness bootcamp. I’d go away for a week and be in an enforced detox. But when I got home, it would all kick off again.

“I couldn’t afford to go out in Mayfair any more, so I went out locally in Hertfordshire.

“I hadn’t really changed. I didn’t save money. Anything I had left after paying my bills, I squandered on partying.

“In 2016, my daughter Harleigh has a vivid memory of me passed out on the sofa. She thought I was dead and had to slap me awake. No child should go through that.

“I feel so ashamed and embarrassed that it wasn’t enough to make me stop.”

Claire’s turning point came on July 23, 2017.

“It was my mum’s birthday,” she says.

“She’d taken her life by suicide in 2012 due to dementia. I was alone, thinking about my life, and I hit rock bottom. That night, I went to an AA meeting.”

While Claire stopped drinking, it was meeting addiction expert Chris Hill (beatmyaddictions.com) that she credits for her transformation.

She says: “I wouldn’t have stayed clean without Chris’s help. He helped me realise that I wasn’t depriving myself but gaining freedom from addiction.”

‘Gave me back control’

She and Chris set up a retreat to help others with addiction issues, running it from a rented house in Hertfordshire.

But when Covid hit in 2020, the business could not operate.

Claire moved to Portugal, where she now lives debt-free, running a concierge service and working in event management for the Thai Beach Club in Vilamoura.

She has remained sober since 2017.

She says: “I look back on my life and I feel desperately sorry for me and my children. I was unhappy and shopping and drinking to escape.

“Stopping drinking gave me back control of all areas of my life. I now eat healthily, I never drink, I exercise every day and practise mindfulness.

“I want other women to know that it gives you freedom — you’re no longer trapped in a cycle of destructive behaviour.

“I hope anyone reading this appreciates the difference being alcohol-free makes and considers carrying on with Dry January.

“When I got sober eight years ago, I thought giving up booze was saying goodbye to fun, and it turned out to be just the opposite — and it could be for you, too.”