AC Milan boss breaks silence on Marcus Rashford transfer amid Man United exit plan

Marcus Rashford was hot-topic when AC Milan head coach Sergio Conceicao spoke to the media on Friday, as he called the Manchester United attacker "a good player" and left the 27-year-old's proposed arrival open.

Left out by Ruben Amorim even before admitting he was ready for "a new challenge", it seems a question of when - and not if - Rashford leaves his boyhood club. Over a week into the window though United have had no concrete negotiations with any other club.

Only rumour has fuelled where the England forward could end up this January, with Milan hotly speculated as the most possible destination by both English and Italian media.

But there are many factors at play if he is to move his career to the iconic San Siro; the main one spoken about so far his reported £325,000-per-week wages.

Another is Milan's readiness to conduct business, as it was only December 30 that Conceicao was appointed as manager of the club. Four days later he had a Super Cup semi-final against Juventus and - after three more days - the following showpiece vs cross-city rivals Inter Milan.

With both matches won, and now returning to Serie A action this weekend, there has been little time to consider transfers. However, if United were hoping they could strike-up business with Milan over Rashford this month, then their head coach has at least now promised there will come a time for such discussions.

"The management tried to talk to me once or twice about these issues, but at the wrong times, in my opinion, because there are matches. I prefer to talk about it at the right time. We need to talk about it, but not now," he explained during his pre-Cagliari press conference.

After this response, Rashford's name was flagged-up specifically.

Conceicao replied: "You try in every way. Rashford is a good player like many others, let's see what happens."

Amorim has not selected the 27-year-old in five out of the last six matchday squads - and for the one that he was vs Newcastle United he was not even summoned from their substitutes bench.

Barcelona have been added to the list of other clubs, like Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, reportedly interested, and it will remain up to these clubs to spark an agreement - whether it be a loan or full purchase - before deadline day comes and goes on February 3.