Crossword Genius

Masculine desire repelled Manchester United player (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mitchum

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'player' is the definition.
(I know that Mitchum is a player)

'masculine desire repelled manchester united' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'masculine' could be 'm' and 'm' is located in the answer.
'desire' could be 'itch' (itch is a kind of desire) and 'itch' is located in the answer.
'united' could be 'u' (abbreviation as in Man U for Manchester United) and 'u' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'm' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for mitchum that I've seen is " actor, so-called ...".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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