Ruben Amorim has insisted Marcus Rashford is not close to leaving Manchester United and urged the forward to embrace the “biggest challenge” of proving himself at his boyhood club.

Rashford said in an interview with the journalist Henry Winter on Tuesday that he was “ready for a new challenge”. This came after the 27-year-old had been dropped for United’s 2-1 win Manchester City on Sunday, having struggled for form over the past two seasons.

Related: Rashford ‘ready for new challenge’ as Manchester United exit moves closer

It is known Amorim would be happy to sell Rashford in January as part of a cultural reboot he deems necessary to transform the club, with United’s hierarchy willing to listen to offers for a player who is on £365,000 per week. But speaking on Wednesday, United’s head coach insisted he wants Rashford to stay. “Of course, because this kind of club needs big talent and he’s a big talent, so he just needs to perform at the highest level and that is my focus. I just want to help Marcus,” Amorim said.

“We have here a new challenge, it’s a tough one, for me it’s the biggest challenge in football because we are in a difficult situation and I already said this is one of the biggest clubs in the world,” said Amorim. “This is a really new challenge and the biggest one. I really hope all my players are ready for this new challenge.”

As Tuesday was a day off, Amorim has not yet spoken with Rashford. “No, not yet. It was yesterday, I gave the day off to the lads, so he’s our player and he’s ready for the next game,” said the Portuguese. “I spoke with a lot of players individually and during training. What I want is to take the best stuff of Marcus Rashford as the player so I don’t talk about the future, I just talk about the present, I want the best of each one of them and that is the key point for me, I just want to win and to help the team be better.

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“We are better with Marcus Rashford, that is simple and we will try different things to push Marcus to the best levels he showed in the past. And that’s all.”

Amorim also played down the impact of Rashford’s comments on the squad. “I think they are more simple than that, they focus on their job, everyone, all of the players,” he insisted. “I was a player and we were a little bit selfish so they are focused on their job to win a place in the team. I don’t think it’s had an impact on the team.”