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Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has revealed he is “very happy” with Marcus Rashford’s progress at Villa Park since joining from Manchester United on loan in January, but refused to confirm whether the club would look to sign the forward permanently this summer.
Rashford, 27, swapped Manchester for Birmingham at the end of the winter window to join Villa after a dispute with Red Devils head coach Ruben Amorim over attitude and application in training.
The Midlands club agreed to cover 75% of Rashford’s wage packet at Old Trafford, which could rise to 90% with performance-related bonuses. A £40 million buy-clause was also included in the loan deal.
Rashford’s form has dramatically improved since arriving at Villa Park, though it could hardly have got worse such were his dismal performances in a Red shirt for the previous 18 months. The 27-year-old has reclaimed a place in the England squad, with Thomas Tuchel starting him on the left-wing in the Three Lions’ World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia last month.
Rashford appears to have even beaten out fellow English forward Ollie Watkins for the starting striker role at Villa with Emery selecting the United academy graduate up front in the last three games – including last night’s thrilling Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris-Saint Germain.
Rashford started the first leg in Paris but produced an abject display as the Villains were thoroughly outplayed by the Ligue 1 champions, falling to a 3-1 defeat.
However, Emery maintained his faith in Rashford for the crucial return leg at Villa Park as the 27-year-old started in place of Watkins, despite the two-goal deficit. And the Spanish manager’s decision was soundly justified by his loanee, with Rashford producing an electric display – as is often the case against PSG – to come within inches of helping Villa to an unlikely comeback.
The English forward created more chances and completed more dribbles than any other player on the pitch, and came agonisingly close to scoring a brilliant goal, if not for an even more brilliant save by PSG goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who single-handedly kept his side in the match at times.
A superb assist for Youri Tielemans from Rashford was then follow by a wicked free-kick from the England international, which saw centre-back Ezri Konsa miss a guilt-edged chance to draw Villa level.
Emery chose to withdraw Rashford in the 76n minute for Watkins, much to the relief of the PSG defence and the disbelief of the Villa Park crowd. But the Villains were ultimately unable to find another goal to take the pulsating context to extra-time, drawing question marks on this decision by the Spanish manager.
In his post-match interview, Emery revealed how “happy” the club were with Rashford’s performance and his progress since arriving in January, but declined to confirm Villa would activate the £40 million buy-clause in the loan deal from United.
“It is difficult to plan it now. It depends on the circumstances and what happens in the next weeks. [Rashford’s] feeling comfortable and feeling better. He played a fantastic match vs PSG. We are very happy,” the 53-year-old stated.
Emery has constantly praised Rashford since the switch with the Spaniard believed to have played an integral part in convincing the 27-year-old to join the Birmingham side. It feels as if the decision was left solely to him, Rashford would be wearing claret and blue next season.
However, Villa executives will be aware that there is unlikely to be a significant number of clubs looking to sign Rashford permanently this summer, given United’s price demand and the 27-year-old’s exorbitant wage packet at Old Trafford.
Teams such as AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund expressed an interest in a loan deal for Rashford in January but were unsuccessful in their pursuit due to this salary issue – which will remain an obstacle in the summer.
Similarly, Barcelona were also linked with a switch, and could feasibly match the wage demands, but the Catalonia club is facing acute financial pressure and a move for an expensive left-winger is unlikely to be high on their agenda, given the imperious form of Raphinha.
As such, Villa may be content to let Rashford’s loan deal expire without activating the £40 million buy-clause, in order to allow the forward to return to Manchester and then negotiate a cheaper price.
And it’s perhaps this transfer tactic which leads Emery to state a permanent move for Rashford will depend on “circumstances” given there is already an option to seal the deal, irrespective of circumstances.
Feature image Dan Istitene via Getty Images
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