'Get them out': Rio Ferdinand tells Man United to immediately sell three players

The former defender has called for his old club to offload Antony, Marcus Rashford and Tyrell Malacia before the transfer window closes.

Of the trio, only Antony was involved in Sunday's 3-1 home loss to Brighton at Old Trafford.

The defeat leaves the Red Devils 13th in the Premier League with 10 losses from their first 22 matches.

Antony is set to complete a loan move to Real Betis until the end of the season, but Rashford and Malacia's futures are less certain.

Ferdinand was asked about the trio on his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, explaining: "I think Antony's going, someone said to me, Real Betis or somewhere like that. Just get them out man!

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"Sorry, no, I'm just being honest. The more these type of guys are around, where there's just a bad noise, they all want to go, they're all happy to go - let's just get them out. Let's start afresh.

"You know what it's like, if there's people who are unsettled in there and it's not going to plan and they're not happy, it spreads. It's like a cancerous, bad energy."

Rashford has also been strongly linked with a January exit after saying he is 'ready for a new challenge'.

The 27-year-old has fallen out of favour under Ruben Amorim, with his last appearance coming on December 12 against Viktoria Plzen.

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He has since made the bench just once in nine matches across all competitions, having first been axed from the squad against Manchester City last month.

Ferdinand commented on Rashford's future last week, stating: "If we're to believe that, he's not featured in the games since that, so I would be surprised if he's still a Manchester United player come the end of this transfer window, I've got to be honest.

"I don't think it's about who's responsible, there's going to be blame on each side, the player, the club, management maybe as well. I think there's probably a shared amount of blame.

"But ultimately, if you look at it as a player, you look at yourself first. That's what I hope he'll be doing and then going, 'I'm not looking back no more, I'm going to look forward'.

"And if it's not with Manchester United, wherever it may be, I would wish him all the best of luck, I want to see him do well."

Meanwhile, Malacia has been an unused substitute in United's last four league matches.

Since returning from a knee injury earlier in the campaign, the Dutch full-back has made just six appearances.

Of those, five have come since Amorim's arrival as manager in November.

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Malacia currently has 18 months remaining on his contract, although the club have the option of a further year.