Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is facing a new challenge at Aston Villa and long drawn out departure from his boyhood club Manchester United.
Wythenshawe born and bred, Rashford was a product of the Manchester United youth academy and joined the club at the age of seven.
He made his first team appearance at the age of 18 in the Europa League against FC Midtjylland, in February 2016 and then made his Premier League debut three days later against Arsenal, scoring two goals in each game.
During his time at Manchester United, Rashford has made 426 appearances, scoring a total of 138 goals with 30 of those goals coming in the 2022/23 season, his best season in club football so far.
He has also won the FA Community Shield, two FA Cups, two EFL Cups, and the UEFA Europa League title.
However over the past two seasons, Rashford’s performances have dropped significantly.
In the 2022/23 season, there was no doubt that Marcus Rashford was on fire.
He played 56 matches across all competitions achieving 30 goals, nine assists and 4,304 minutes of game time with only two yellow cards. It showed Red Devils’ fans that he had bounced back after a poor 2021/22 season.
His wonder season, however, did not see him kick on in the following years.
In the 2023/24 season, Rashford played for 43 matches, he scored eight goals with 3,057 minutes of game time.
He has improved slightly in the 2024/25 season thus far, having played for 24 matches with seven goals from 1,500 minutes of game time.
As a player who is supposedly one of United’s best in the last decade, an average rating of 6.87 according to FotMob, tells us otherwise.
United head coach and former Sporting boss Ruben Amorim called out Rashford, telling the press that he “had to change” if he wants to make his way back onto the matchday squad, let alone become a regular starter again.
There has been speculation floating around for a while about Rashford’s departure from the club due to Amorin’s belief that it would be better for everyone in the team if the forward was no longer around.
Many fans of United and media pundits claim Rashford’s poor performance is a result of a personality clash with Amorim and the new manager rigid adherence to a system which doesn’t suit the England international.
However, Rashford also ran into issues with former Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag who was sacked from the club in October 2024 due to United’s dismal start to the season.
During Ten Hag’s last full season with United in 2023/24, Rashford’s goal return dropped off significantly from the previous season.
The Dutchman was asked in a news conference back in September why there has been such a significant drop off with the England forward.
Ten Hag stated “He knows, I know. It has to do with himself but also to do of course with the team.”
Rashford also found himself dropped by the former Ajax manager for his late arrival at training and notably incurred the rath of his manager following a public appearance at Belfast nightclub Thompson’s in October 2023.
Speculations about Rashford’s departure started when he was dropped out of the Premier League Manchester derby squad at the Etihad Stadium on December 15.
Three days prior, the forward had been substituted 11 minutes into the second half of a Europa League match against Czech club Viktoria Plzen.
He was replaced by Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund who came on to score two crucial goals to make it a 2-1 win for the Red Devils.
Rashford has been excluded from 11 out of 12 United squads since.
The forward supposedly felt “frustrated” and stated to football writer Henry Winter that he was “ready for a new challenge”.
This has been interpreted as Rashford hinting that he wanted to leave United. However, sources close to the forward have said this was a feeling of frustration rather than an inclination to leave his boyhood club.
As well as Rashford’s bad performance have played a part in his departure, financial matters at Old Trafford are also a concern.
Rashford and Casemiro - who has only played three games since the Plzen game- are by far United’s highest earners with the English forward on £325,000 per week and the Brazilian midfielder on a salary of £350,000 per week.
Therefore, their presence makes it difficult for United to get their spending in the transfer market under a level of control.
Consequently, when their salaries are off the books, United can then start to move forward in terms of acquiring players who will better suit Amorim’s system, without having the threat of profit and sustainability violations hanging over their heads.
It has become known in the world of football that United have become used to supporting moves for their highly-paid players who are not meeting the club standards and are no longer wanted.
Many have said that the club has not been getting their value for money with the majority of their players.
With Rashford being the next one out, Man United believe that they have done well with the Aston Villa deal.
Along with Aston Villa, there were a number of clubs that had interest in the Wythenshawe boy.
One of his aspirations was to join Barcelona, however Barcelona needed to offload players to accommodate the forward.
Offers from the Saudi Pro League were also on the cards, however, Rashford felt that joining one of these clubs would put his English career in jeopardy.
Villa put themselves forward after their decision to sell Colombian forward Jhon Duran for £71 million to Saudi Pro club Al-Nassr.
They have agreed to sign the forward on loan until the end of the 2024/25 season.
An agreement is in place on the loan deal which is valid until June 2025 with over 70 per cent of Rashford’s salary covered by Aston Villa, which Manchester United agreed to.
A buy option is also a potential offer with a three-and-a-half year deal on the line for the forward.
Along with Rashford, Villa have welcomed a number of new signings including Spanish winger Marco Asensio on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, Dutch forward Donyell Malen on loan from Borussia Dortmund, and French centre back Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea.
Man United’s fans take great pride in their homegrown players making it in the first team, which makes Rashford’s departure all the more painful. However, the move may just be best outcome for all parties.