Man Utd grant five players' exit requests as Marcus Rashford loses shirt number

Matheus Cunha will wear No.10 for Manchester United going forwards, with Marcus Rashford among five players whose returns for pre-season at Old Trafford have been delayed as they look to leave the club

Marcus Rashford has seen his No.10 shirt at Manchester United handed to Matheus Cunha - in another sign that there will be no return for the England striker at Old Trafford.

Indeed, Rashford is one of five players who want to leave the club and, having informed the club of their desire to do so, will be allowed to report for duty later in July, rather than reporting back at Carrington next week for pre-season testing.

The other four are Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia. All will be allowed to report for pre-season back at Carrington late as they seek to finalise moves away, having told the club they are keen to move on.

The club have confirmed that their medical and rehabilitation facilities will remain available to the players, should they want it. Remote support will also continue as it has during the off-season.

Sources also insist that if the players cannot get themselves fixed up with moves elsewhere, then they WILL be welcomed back ahead of the new season - although it will then be down to head coach Ruben Amorim to decide what to do with them.

Rashford, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, loses his No.10 shirt at the club as he continues to push for a move away. He is keen to try his luck in another country, with Barcelona his preferred destination.

That move has appeared unlikely for much of the summer, with Barca prioritising a move for Spain winger Nico Williams. But amid worries over the Blaugrana's ability to register Williams if they paid his release clause to Athletic Bilbao, amid the club's financial issues, the player has duly signed a new long-term deal with Athletic until 2035, confirming that he won't be moving this summer.

That offers an opening to Rashford, either on a permanent deal or on loan, particularly with Liverpool insisting that another Barca target, Luis Diaz, is going nowhere this summer.

Sancho is looking to join Juventus after seeing Chelsea pay £5m to get out of spending £25m to sign him permanently after his loan spell, while Garnacho, who had been an important piece of Amorim's side for much of last term, is seeking an exit after falling out with the Portuguese. Frustrated at only being a substitute in the Europa League Final loss to Spurs, his post-match comments were the last straw and he was told by the United boss he can leave.

Malacia has been out on loan at PSV Eindhoven, who decided not to make his loan move permanent for £8.3m, and has no future at the club after an injury hit spell, while Antony was a major hit on loan at Real Betis, who are eager to sign him permanently if they can negotiate an affordable price.

Another option is sending him back to Seville on a season-long loan deal, with an obligation to buy next summer, with United looking to recoup around £30m on the Brazilian.

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