Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford (Image: Getty Images)
Now a Champions League club and a threat in the Premier League, Aston Villa will continue to be thrown into conversations around players’ futures.
It’s therefore no surprise to see Villa loosely linked with Marcus Rashford, who appears to be on the way out of Manchester United. The forward was left out of Ruben Amorim’s squad to face Manchester rivals City last weekend and has since confirmed to journalist Henry Winter that he would like to leave United for pastures new.
"For me, personally, I'm ready for a new challenge and the next steps," said Rashford. "When I leave it's going to be no hard feelings. You're not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United. That's me. I will always be a Red."
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Links to Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Arsenal have already surfaced, but you’d struggle to find many more realistic options for the forward, whose contract with United is said to be worth up to £325,000-a-week. That comes to around £17m a year.
Rashford also has over three years remaining on the huge deal he signed last year, meaning United will want a sizable fee for his services too. Before even considering where he could fit in at Villa, the financial undertaking would be huge for any team, let alone Villa who are strapped due to the Premier League and UEFA’s financial constraints.
Villa had to raise money to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules last summer and then free up wages to satisfy UEFA’s demands. Moussa Diaby was sold for £50.5m as Jaden Philogene returned to the club for a fraction of that sale.
A loan in January may be the best option for Rashford as there’s only a small number of teams who commit the sort of transfer fee United would accept. His wages would certainly be a stumbling block for the likes of Villa and Newcastle United, who are both being impacted by the league’s financial rules despite both qualifying for the Champions League in recent seasons.
Villa are well stocked in forward positions, but Jacob Ramsey has struggled with injuries this season, while Leon Bailey is out of form and Jaden Philogene is still adjusting to the top level. Rashford prefers to play off the left and can also operate as a striker, but Villa have two excellent forwards in Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran.
Villa signed Morgan Rogers for just £8m last January and that’s the sort of business Monchi will be looking to do again as it’s sensible and risk free. Most importantly, Emery pushed for Rogers, but even if he believes he could get a tune out of Rashford, the England international would have to at least halve his wages to join.
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