Ruben Amorim sends a message to his ‘unstoppable’ Man United dressing room ‘leak’ after fans accused axed Alejandro Garnacho and his brother of being behind derby XI being exposed

Ruben Amorim’s side emerged late with a stunning 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad, but the festive atmosphere was somewhat tarnished by an apparent leak in the dressing room.

Both Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford were surprisingly left out of the squad to face the Red Devils’ nemesis, with some, including Gary Neville, praising the head coach’s call.

Rashford watched from home and has since broken his silence on his Instagram page, while Garnacho – the club’s top scorer in all competitions – has remained tight-lipped on his social media about his exclusion.

The surprising news appeared to have been leaked on Saturday evening, the night before the match, but was only confirmed when Amorim’s official team sheet was released ahead of kick-off on Sunday afternoon.

According to a report from the Manchester Evening NewsClub sources made it clear that Garnacho’s omission was not linked to suggestions that his brother had been responsible for team leaks.

Another report, from Subwayclaimed Garnacho’s brother had denied allegations on social media that he was the source of several leaks ahead of recent matches last week.

Garnacho is United’s top scorer in all competitions so far this season with eight goals

The Red Devils recorded a stunning 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Sunday evening

The fact that information of such great importance to the side’s preparations for a derby clash could find its way out of the dressing room is likely to come as a serious intrusion, but admits it is ‘impossible’ to to prevent this.

“I know that story,” Amorim said after the 2-1 victory over the leak via the club’s official website. “I don’t know, I think it’s impossible to solve this nowadays because you have a lot of people in the club and the players are talking to agents.”

“I don’t know, you can talk to friends, so it’s hard to know. It’s not a good thing, but let’s move on and go to the next one and see if they find the next starting XI.’

Amorim’s decision was ultimately upheld, with the Red Devils securing a crucial late victory over their bitter rivals.

The new Portuguese head coach had made it clear that standards must be met and players who fall below them will not be tolerated.

Amorim was quick to highlight that neither player was injured ahead of the match, instead indicating that they are simply part of the battle for places.

‘It’s important to say why. It was not a disciplinary issue: next week, next match, new life,” he explained.

They fight for places, but for me the performance in training, the performance in the match, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you interact with the teammates, the way you encourage your team , important. friends.

After the 2-1 victory, Ruben Amorim sent a message to the ‘leak’ in his dressing room

Amorim insisted neither player was injured but they were both competing for places

Amad Diallo scored a dramatic late winner to seal the three points for United against their rivals

‘Everything is important in our context. In the beginning of changing many things, when people in our club lose their jobs, we have to set the bar very high.

‘To do this, they have to fight for their place in the team and today the team has proven that we can leave everyone out of the team. If we play together, you can win.”

United’s £325,000-a-week striker Rashford has struggled to match the heights he reached in the 2022-23 season, when he struck 30 times in all competitions.

Mail Sport even revealed last week that the club would be willing to listen to offers of around £40 million for their academy product in January.

Mason Mount was named in the starting line-up instead, although his match lasted just 13 minutes.

The England attacking midfielder went down injured early in the first half and the desperate star had to be substituted.