Marcus Rashford transfer news: Aston Villa make loan enquiry for Manchester United forward | Football News

Aston Villa have made an enquiry over the loan signing of Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.

Sky Sports News understands Villa are considering a move for the 27-year-old after selling Jhon Duran to Al Nassr.

Unai Emery’s side are also interested in Paris Saint-Germain’s Marcos Asensio and Chelsea’s Joao Felix, as confirmed by Villa’s president of football operations Monchi.

Seven speculation-filled weeks have passed since Rashford last played for his boyhood club in the Europa League trip to Viktoria Plzen – and he remains in the cold ahead of Monday’s 11pm deadline.

The England international last month revealed he was “ready for a new challenge”, but few clubs offer an obvious landing spot thanks in no small part to his wages.

Rashford was left out of United’s 21-man squad for Thursday’s Europa League win at FCSB despite the forward training with his team-mates on the eve of the match.

Amorim suggested last weekend after the 1-0 win at Fulham he would currently rather have United’s 63-year-old goalkeeping coach in his squad than Rashford.

There have been reports this week that Amorim and Rashford were no longer on speaking terms.

Rashford’s preference is still to move to Barcelona – but they have yet to make any formal arrangements to take him on loan from Manchester United.

The Spanish giants are struggling to create salary space as contract renewals increase their wage bill, with fringe players like Ansu Fati and Andreas Christensen not wanting to leave the club in this window.

Sources in Spain say Rashford is willing to reduce his salary if that can make a deal happen.

Merse: Rashford should move abroad – but he’ll stay at Man Utd

Sky Sports’ Paul Merson on The Transfer Show:

“Rashford has to go abroad – he needs a change. The problem is wherever he goes, he has to take his head with him.

“People think he can go to Italy, Spain or Barcelona – while it’s a different club, he will still have to take his head with him.

“And that’s the problem: he’s not running around. When your manager is telling you you’re not running around, there’s nothing worse than that. That’s the worst.

“So that’s what he has got to understand. I’m not a Man Utd fan but they’re still one of the biggest clubs in the world. Wherever he goes, he will be downgrading.

“I think Rashford’s next game will be at Man Utd. I just don’t see who takes him and it’s just his big wages. You’re not buying someone bang in form, scoring goals left, right and centre. You want someone to come in and hit the ground running.

“Time’s a healer. As soon as this transfer window is shut, he has to play if he stays. The manager will be told in the end. If Man Utd are 13th or 14th in the league, he will have to play.

“If you’re Man Utd, you can’t send him to Aston Villa and he gets 10 in 10 and Man Utd are losing every week. The manager will be under immense pressure. He has to be out of sight and out of mind. He has to go abroad, but his next game will be at Man Utd.”

‘Rashford may want Barca – but he would get regular football at Villa’

Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol on The Transfer Show:

“Aston Villa are looking to sign forward players over the next few days. They have lost Jhon Duran, who is on his way to Saudi Arabia, and Emi Buendia has moved to Germany on loan. They need to bring in reinforcements.

“We’ve been talking about their options and players they have been looking at over the last couple of days – a new name now is Marcus Rashford. He’s a player they could make a move for in the next 72 hours.

“Unai Emery is a big fan of Rashford and everybody knows Rashford is available on loan.

“I think he may want to go to Barcelona, but let’s be realistic. He’s not playing for Manchester United, is he really going to be playing regularly for Barcelona when they’ve got players like Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha? Is he going to get the regular football he wants?

“That leads to the question of would he be better off going to somewhere like Aston Villa, where I think he would get regular football.”

Would Rashford be guaranteed a first-team role at Villa?

Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe:

“Rashford has played his best football on the left so this link arrives at an interesting time for Villa and Rashford, given Jacob Ramsey looks to be recapturing his finest form.

“The 23-year-old scored against West Ham and provided two assists against Celtic. If he maintained this run, there are no guarantees that Rashford would have the starting role he desires at Villa.

“Versatility is held in high regard by Emery so playing with Watkins up front or out on the right, given Leon Bailey’s struggles, are also possibilities.

“Finances and his role in the team are two major obstacles that would need to be hurdled to make a deal possible. The other problem is which Rashford would Villa be getting.

“Emery has a track record of getting the best out of players so if he could get him close to the player we saw in 2022/23, who scored 17 goals in the Premier League, it would be a gamble worth taking for Villa.

“But as the saga with Jhon Duran also demonstrated, Emery has little-to-no patience for off-the-field antics.”

‘Dortmund and Barcelona in race to sign for Rashford’

Sky Sports News’ Dharmesh Sheth speaking on The Transfer Show:

“It’s not going to be easy. Rashford continues to train with the Manchester United first-team squad.

“He’s been criticised heavily in recent weeks by Ruben Amorim, but there’s still no breakthrough with any club over a potential deal this month.

“We know so far in this window there has been Saudi and Turkish interest but they’ve been ruled out of hand by Rashford.

“Borussia Dortmund are keeping an eye on his situation but his preference is Barcelona, so can they muster enough salary space to accommodate Rashford?

“This time last year Dortmund did a deal with United for Jadon Sancho and it was an incentivised deal, whereby the better Sancho did and Dortmund did the more money Man Utd got.

“So can they get creative with these clubs, or even Aston Villa, in the remaining three days of the transfer window to get Rashford a move away from Old Trafford?”

Morrison: Rashford has the best job in the world

Sky Sports’ Clinton Morrison on The Transfer Show:

“Man Utd are the biggest football club in the world. When I was playing, you would walk up the motorway to sign for Man Utd. I don’t understand, when you’re a player of that ability at a club like that, why you’re not running through walls.

“When I look at Rashford, he’s got the best job in the world. You ask anybody and they would love to be a professional footballer. Play with a smile on your face and go and enjoy yourself.

“I don’t see the Rashford that was taking people on, scoring goals when he burst on the scene.

“I don’t think his Man Utd career is over. Just go abroad for a few months, get your confidence back, come back to Man Utd and be a different player.

“But if my manager said they would rather pick the goalkeeper coach who is 63, my head would be rolling off. I wouldn’t like that.”

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