Marcus Rashford just played a huge role in helping Aston Villa reach the FA Cup semi-finals by scoring his first goals since departing Manchester United on loan. The 27-year-old endured a challenging first few months under the helm of Ruben Amorim with a temporary departure then sanctioned in January.
Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund were big clubs abroad also interested in signing him, while Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United were all linked. Ultimately, he remained in England and signed for Unai Emery's Villa and very quickly made an impact.
On his debut, Rashford saw a free-kick rebound off the bar and into the path of Ollie Watkins who finished easily. The direct goal contributions arrived shortly after that though as he assisted both goals in a second half turnaround against Chelsea in the Premier League.
He also picked up assists against Club Brugge in the Champions League and against Cardiff City in FA Cup action. A first goal had eluded for the first two months of his spell, until he scored twice in Villa's FA Cup quarter-final victory against Preston on Sunday.
Fresh off playing 153 minutes on his return to the England set-up, Rashford opened the scoring with a smart side-footed effort. Just a few minutes later, Morgan Rogers won a penalty and Rashford showed his flowing confidence levels to emphatically dispatch from 12 yards.
While it may look a foolish decision for Arsenal to not have at least tried to sign him, given their injury crisis in attack, it was a far more complicated deal than many realised. Due to the finances involved, a permanent move was not considered possible and thus a loan was the only route.
However, due to Premier League rules, the Gunners would have needed to terminate either Raheem Sterling or Neto's temporary moves to bring in Rashford. Chelsea and Bournemouth, the duo's respective clubs, would have likely needed to agree to that and therefore it would have been a complex deal with multiple factors at play.
Mikel Merino has done a very good job filling in up top in the meantime but with Gabriel Martinelli back and Bukayo Saka close to returning, Arteta has got some key forwards available again.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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