Marcos Rojo Left Manchester United for Estudiantes to Boost Argentina Hopes

Marcos Rojo has said he decided to leave Manchester United on loan to Estudiantes in a bid to boost his hopes of playing for the Argentina national team.

The centre-back will spend the rest of the season on loan at the club where he began his career and explained that he spoke with Albiceleste boss Lionel Scaloni before the move, per Roy Nemer at Mundo Albiceleste:

"Also one of the reasons I came here was to play for the Argentina national team, I want to be close. I spoke with Scaloni and I told him that I came here to play every weekend, to get continuity and that I am anxious to be back with the team.

"We have the World Cup qualifiers which start in March and it's important to be in the rhythm of it all. He told me that in order to be there, I have to play. And that's why I left Manchester to come here."

Rojo moved to Old Trafford from Sporting CP in 2014 and has won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Europa League with the Red Devils. However, he has never managed to secure a regular place in the team and has made only one Premier League start in 2019-20.

Football writer Karl Matchett highlighted his lack of game time:

Yet Rojo still appears to have attracted plenty of interest. He told El Intransigente (h/t Lucas Sposito at Sport Witness) that he "had many offers to go to other clubs" before opting to return to Estudiantes.

The centre-back still has 18 months left on his current contract, and Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hinted his career at Old Trafford is not over, per Simon Peach at the PA:

Rojo is an experienced Argentina international with 61 caps and was named in their most recent squad for international friendlies against Brazil and Uruguay but had to withdraw due to a muscle injury.

His last appearance for the national team was in October's 2-2 friendly draw in Germany, but he will be hoping to feature when Argentina return to action next month in FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Bolivia.