Marcus Rashford’s future after his loan spell at Aston Villa is even more up in the air than originally thought after a new detail about their agreement with Manchester United surfaced.
Rashford left Man Utd for the first time in his career to join Aston Villa on loan in February. With his season now over due to injury, he finished his loan spell with four goals and six assists from 17 appearances. It was certainly enough to put him back in the shop window after a frustrating time under Ruben Amorim earlier this season.
Soon it will be time to assess Rashford’s future. He is still under contract with Man Utd until 2028, but Villa have the option to buy him for £40m.
That might not be as straightforward as it seemed, though. According to multiple updates over the past 24 hours, including from The Sun, Villa do not have any right of first refusal for Rashford.
The option to buy clause has been verified, but Man Utd will also be listening to other bids from different clubs.
If someone else puts £40m on the table, Man Utd and Rashford would give the offer just as much consideration as Villa’s if they do decide to proceed with a permanent move.
And with recent reports claiming Rashford would refuse to take a paycut from his £325,000-per-week Man Utd salary, Villa may struggle to compete with some of the other options for Rashford.
Marcus Rashford: Barcelona ones to watch
For example, TEAMtalk has been reporting since February that a move to Barcelona is still on Rashford’s mind.
Fast forward a few months and the interest is mutual; Barcelona are still willing to make a move for the England international.
Champions League involvement will be a big factor in deciding Rashford’s future. Barcelona have qualified as LaLiga champions, whereas Villa are just outside the top five in the Premier League on goal difference at the moment.
Man Utd, incidentally, can qualify for the Champions League if they beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final, but despite a minority of backers at his parent club, there are seemingly no plans to reintegrate Rashford.
Man Utd want to sign Matheus Cunha from Wolves and Liam Delap from Ipswich Town to strengthen their attack as they move forward without Rashford.
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Rashford at Aston Villa: The timeline
February 2: Aston Villa announce the addition of Rashford on loan for the rest of the season
February 9: Unai Emery gives Rashford his Villa debut as a substitute in an FA Cup game against Tottenham
February 22: Rashford provides two assists to Marco Asensio to help give Villa a 2-1 win over Chelsea
February 28: Rashford adds another assist, again to Asensio, in an FA Cup win over Cardiff City
March 4: Emery selects Rashford as a starter for his first Champions League appearance since November 2023 as Villa beat Club Brugge
March 12: Rashford gets an assist in the second leg against Club Brugge as Villa qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals
March 14: Thomas Tuchel names Rashford in his first England squad, 12 months since his previous international cap
March 21: Rashford starts against Albania in Tuchel’s first game in charge of England
March 30: Playing as a striker, Rashford scores his first two goals in a Villa shirt in an FA Cup quarter-final win over Preston
April 2: Rashford’s first league goal for Villa quickly follows in a win away at Brighton
**April 15:**Villa are eliminated from the Champions League, but Rashford gets an assist in a second-leg win over PSG
April 22: Rashford scores in a league defeat to Manchester City, but suffers an injury which is expected to rule him out for the rest of the season – thus ending his loan spell with four goals and six assists from 17 games