Marcus Rashford ‘very soon left wing’ to join the XI?

January is here and transfer rumors abound, some of which will no doubt concern the future of Marcus Rashford and his apparent desire for a new challenge.

Could Manchester United let him go in January and will those in control at Old Trafford regret it? The local boy is leaving.? Here’s an XI made up of players who came through the club’s youth system but left too soon.

Goalkeeper: Jimmy Reimer
When he came through the ranks behind Alex Stepney, a young Jimmy Reimer was on the bench when United won the European Cup in ’68, ten years after the Munich tragedy. One of the new batch of Busby Babes, Reimer replaced a longtime club legend, but it wasn’t Stepney.

Instead, he ended up at Highbury and wore the number 1 shirt at Arsenal following Bob Wilson’s retirement and later enjoyed a long spell at Aston Villa, where he scored his second European Championship despite being injured less than 10 minutes into the season. The cup was won. of the final. If you fancy a goalkeeper challenge, try to name two keepers from the Premier League era who played for Villa but started their careers at Old Trafford.

Centre-back: Jimmy Nicol
A right winger for United in the late seventies, Jimmy Nicol often stood in the center for Northern Ireland. Comfortable on the ball with both feet, it seemed an odd decision for new boss Ron Atkinson to let go of a defender who came through the youth system. Nicoll went on to win numerous trophies up north with Rangers and was not yet 30 when Alex Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford.

Centre-back: Jonny Evans
Jonny Evans is joined in this side by compatriot Nicol, who left Old Trafford in 2015 before returning to his boyhood club in 2023. Louis van Gaal moved Evans forward in 2015, meaning he missed out on winning the FA Cup the following year. But he won the competition with Leicester in 2021 and with United after coming off the bench in the win over City last May.

But in a world without Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, he could have celebrated two uninterrupted decades in Manchester.

Read: Every Man Utd signing since Sir Alex: Sancho, Anthony in bottom five, Solskjaer top buy

Centre-back: Gerard Peck
Just a year older than Evans, Gerard Pique had partnered the Northern Irishman in the early post-Ferguson years after successfully pairing Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic due to age and injury. But Pique was unwilling to wait for his first-team place and returned to Catalonia after making just 23 appearances in the four years since his debut in 2008.

Pique’s departure came shortly after the Red Devils won the Champions League and a year later he played a key role in preventing his former side from back-to-back wins in the competition as Barcelona won 2-0 at Wembley. was

Right wing: David Beckham
Alex Ferguson had no problem getting the better of big name players and in 2003 he came no bigger than David Beckham.

Part of the famous class of ’92, Beckham won it all at United and his celebrity status went beyond the game. But Ferguson literally gave him the boot in a heated dressing room incident and England’s most famous player soon left for Spain to join Galactico, completing a move to Real Madrid in the summer.

The Red Devils didn’t do too badly without him and the man who carried the burden of the iconic No.7 shirt proved quite handy himself. But perhaps combining Cristiano Ronaldo and Beckham could have added more silverware to the Old Trafford trophy cabinet.

Central Midfield: Paul Pogba
Another big name Ferguson moved on was Paul Pogba, who made his debut under the legendary Scottish boss in the 2011/12 season. But the Frenchman soon left for Juventus where he enjoyed a successful spell before returning to Old Trafford for a big fee in 2016. Enjoyed it. Despite not achieving what was expected of him in his second spell and a subsequent doping ban, Turin again escaped. Had he stayed the course, the club could have saved a fortune.

Read: Where Paul Pogba can return his winning Premier League to a very angry Sons.

Central Midfield: Johnny Morris
The first two names in that midfield fell to Ferguson’s wrath, but the following trio ended up on the wrong side of another legendary Scottish boss in the Old Trafford hot seat.

Matt Busby’s first great side featured an impressive forward line of Jimmy Delaney, Johnny Morris, Jack Rowley, Stan Pearson and Charlie Mitton. Together they helped the Red Devils to victory in the 1948 FA Cup Final, but less than a year later, Manchester-born Morris left for Derby County for a record fee aged just 25. When the quarrel with Busby did not end amicably. Solution

Central Midfield: Johnny Giles
Fourteen years after Morris fell out with Matt Busby, another talented player from the youth system left Old Trafford in similar circumstances. Johnny Giles was not keen on Busby’s decision to start him at right-back and the Irishman left shortly after winning the 1963 FA Cup: the club’s first major trophy since the Munich air crash. Giles enjoyed a long and successful career at Leeds United, winning two league titles at Elland Road.

Left wing: Charlie Mutton
Prominent supporter of Muttahida Andy Matton recently suggested that a number of the club’s managers have issues with Marcus Rashford.. He certainly wouldn’t be the first key player to disappoint the man in the Old Trafford hot seat. In fact, Mutton’s great-uncle Charlie fell out with Matt Busby in 1950, lured by the rebel wealth of Colombia, which at the time was outside the control of FIFA.

Mitten returned home after a year in South America, the Red Devils still had his registration and although Busby rated the talented winger highly, he did not want his authority to be questioned. And he sent one of his early star players south to Fulham.

Striker: Brian Kidd
Just like Mutton, Brian Kidd had a great left peg and starts up that side. Some might suggest that George Best should earn a place in this XI, having left the club at the tender age of twenty. But the outrageously gifted Best undoubtedly gave United their best years and it seems impossible that any boss since Busby could have overcome the Northern Irish’s demons.

After the illustrious careers of Charlton, Law, Crand and Styles ended, Best was tasked with keeping the side competitive. Kidd seemed ideally placed to help, scoring in the ’68 European Cup win while still a teenager. However, he left for Arsenal after relegation in 1974 and was not to be part of the Old Trafford revolution until he returned to the club as Alex Ferguson’s assistant.

Striker: Mark Hughes
Still in the top ten of all-time Manchester United goalscorers, Mark Hughes could have found himself a few places up the list had he not left the club in 1986. A disappointing spell at Barcelona led to Alex Ferguson’s first loan move to Bayern Munich. Brought him back to Old Trafford. It proved to be a good move, as the Welshman helped the club to their first league title in 26 years, followed by a domestic double in 1994.