Aston Villa have reportedly reached an agreement with Manchester United and Marcus Rashford to sign him in an initial loan deal for the rest of the season.
The 27-year-old has been heavily linked with an exit this month having fallen out of favour at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim, while he has struggled to hit top form over the past two seasons.
READ MORE: Agreement reached as Villa set to land loan signing of playmaker
It’s been a far cry from the forward who scored 30 goals and provided nine assists in 56 appearances in the 2022/23 campaign, and there has been a general acceptance in recent weeks that a move elsewhere for a fresh start is arguably the best move for the England international’s career moving forward.
That looks to be taking him to Villa, as Fabrizio Romano reports that we’ve agreed terms on a loan deal that will see Villa pay 70 percent of his wages until the end of the season, while there is an option to buy clause included in the agreement said to be worth £40m, if we decide to make his switch permanent in the summer.
Further, a medical is scheduled for Sunday while Rashford could put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half-year deal should we sign him outright at the conclusion of his loan stint.
This is a fascinating move from Villa as aside from the fact that we absolutely had to bring in reinforcements to bolster our attacking options ahead of the transfer deadline following the exits of Jhon Duran and Emiliano Buendia, the fact that it’s Rashford means Unai Emery’s ability to rekindle a player’s talent and get the best out of them will be tested once again.
We’ve seen the Basque coach do it countless times with players currently at his disposal since he was appointed as Villa boss, but this could be his biggest challenge yet at the club given the talk around him and profile of Rashford, while criticism of his application and attitude in training will have to be proven wrong immediately.
With Morgan Rogers, Jacob Ramsey, Donyell Malen, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins set to welcome a new teammate to the attacking unit, there is certainly excitement and optimism over the dynamic and quality that Rashford can add, provided that he’s able to rediscover his confidence and form in the coming weeks and months to make his loan spell a success.
Time will tell what happens from that point onwards in terms of whether or not he does enough to earn a permanent move, but with our push to qualify for Europe again next season, our Champions League and FA Cup hopes in mind, there’s a big four months ahead for Villa, and Rashford will hopefully play a major part in that to help our ongoing progress.
