Of all the players on Manchester United's summer hit-list, Marcus Rashford would not have been on it. The emergence on Monday Rashford is considering his future is about as unsurprising as his supportive embrace of the Ukrainian Oleksandr Zinchenko as they warmed up on Sunday.
In a squad devoid of Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood, Rashford started on the bench at City. Anthony Elanga, a 19-year-old whose first significant start of his career was less than two months ago, started ahead of him.
Rashford, a Wythenshawe-born United fan who came through the academy, settled the Etihad derby in 2016 and scored there again in 2019. As in most industries, you are judged on what you are doing rather than what you have done. Rashford's omission was bound to sting more than his bench berth against Watford eight days earlier.
READ MORE: United selections causing unrest among players with teammate dubbed a 'teacher's pet'
Rashford has started two of the last 11 Premier League games. United's listless second-half against City and Monday's news may propel Rashford back into the starting side but he has not scored as a league starter since May.
Taking Rashford's favoured role on the left has coincided with Jadon Sancho's resurgence and Elanga has been more proactive on the right. Rashford's slump in form has extended beyond 14 months.
He is loath to leaving United, his boyhood club, but a change of scenery could be in the best interests of both parties. Rashford has seen his friend Jesse Lingard left in limbo and reduced to a Newcastle target. Lingard will run down his contract and so will Paul Pogba, another sellable asset where United failed to strike while the iron was hot.
Of the starters at City, only three players would be deserving regulars if United are to become a competitive force next season: Sancho, Bruno Fernandes and David de Gea. The thrashing reiterated Raphael Varane's importance with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof's limitations glaring.
Should United end May trophyless and consigned to Europa League or Conference League football then it would be worse than the disastrous David Moyes season. The upshot of that apocalyptic campaign was they cleared the decks and three-quarters of their greatest defence left in the same summer. Alexander Buttner, Shinji Kagawa, Michael Keane, Danny Welbeck, Anderson, Darren Fletcher and Wilfried Zaha were sold in Louis van Gaal's first two transfer windows, and Javier Hernandez and Tom Cleverley loaned out.
Like that year, United's next summer exodus needs to break double figures. In his valediction, Ed Woodward indicated United were finally in a position to sell players, a skill he failed at over eight years. United are emboldened by the amount of wantaways the squad is littered with, irrespective of who the next manager is.
United scouted 804 right-backs before settling on Aaron Wan-Bissaka and the 805th was unfortunate. Wan-Bissaka is the antithesis of the archetypal United player - reticent, timid and desultory. A frustrated Fred finally snapped at Wan-Bissaka deep into the second-half at City, shouting and smacking his hands repeatedly. Solskjaer was prepared to replace Wan-Bissaka after two years with Kieran Trippier.
United invested £130million combined to sign Wan-Bissaka and Maguire in 2019. With the return of crowds and expectations raised this season, they have failed the acid test. United need to cut their losses of Wan-Bissaka, whatever the hit on the fee, and Maguire has lost credibility as captain.
Scott McTominay and Fred do not lack commitment but do lack quality. Elanga is still callow and careless, his error for City's second goal part of the learning curve. Pogba will likely not be a United player in four months' time.
Juan Mata will be gone and not forgotten for Anfield 2015 while some United supporters would rather forget Edinson Cavani, an armchair player whose sole run of form secured another year's salary of £13million. If United had any principles, they would pay up the rest of his contract.
Donny van de Beek fancied the comfort zone of Everton back in the summer, all but confirming he lacked the mentality to hack it at United. He is now uncomfortably close to the relegation zone. Martial has had two good seasons out of seven and Woodward ought to have listened to Jose Mourinho in 2018. Martial's resale value is not as high as it was back then.
Eric Bailly has played 113 times for United in six seasons and is the fifth-choice centre-back - behind Phil Jones - less than a year after he was incongruously furnished with a new contract. His seasonal appearance average could fall under 20 games come this campaign's conclusion and Bailly should have been long gone. So should Jones.
Axel Tuanzebe's latest loan at Napoli is going disastrously: two appearances in two months and without a kick since January 13. Alex Telles is an underwhelming deputy to Luke Shaw but Brandon Williams is not a guaranteed credible competitor in the long-term.
It could be a long list.
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