The sight of Marcus Rashford wearing a club badge that isn\u2019t Manchester United\u2019s was jarring. After all, the 27-year-old had spent his entire career at Old Trafford before completing a loan move to Aston Villa on Sunday, posing alongside Monchi in his new training kit in the official announcement.<\/p>\n
A January exit from United had been on the cards for a number of weeks. Frozen out by Ruben Amorim, Rashford needed a fresh start somewhere else and had been linked with several suitors including AC Milan, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund. In the end, Villa were the ones to land the wide attacker.<\/p>\n
In some ways, Villa is a less-than-ideal destination for Rashford. According to reports, he was keen to leave the country and escape the gaze of the English media. At Villa Park, he will very much still be within that gaze. His every performance will be scrutinised and analysed to the nth degree.<\/p>\n
As a boyhood Manchester United fan, Rashford also surely didn\u2019t want to face his parent club. While the 27-year-old\u2019s relationship with Amorim might have broken down, he still holds affection for United and that will be tested now that he is playing for a rival team. Aston Villa will face United at Old Trafford on the final day of the season.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the loan switch to Villa could be exactly what Rashford needs to get his career back on track. There\u2019s every reason to believe he will be a success for his new team with Unai Emery renowned for his ability to rejuvenate players who have fallen on tough times. Rashford is his latest project.<\/p>\n
At Villarreal, Arnaut Danjuma, Juan Foyth, Giovani Lo Celso and Francis Coquelin all thrived after being chewed up and spat out by the Premier League. Emery built them back up as individuals and integrated them into a team that consistently punched above their weight, winning the Europa League in the 2020\/21 season.<\/p>\n
Aston Villa\u2019s style of play should be a good fit for Rashford with Emery eager for his attackers to burst into open space in quick transition. Whether it\u2019s as a winger or as a second striker alongside Ollie Watkins, Emery will play to Rashford\u2019s strengths in a way Amorim was never willing to as Manchester United manager.<\/p>\n
One area where Rashford will have to improve relates to his work rate. This was a problem for him under Amorim who wanted more from the 27-year-old out of possession. Emery will also demand that Rashford presses from the front and works back to help out defensively. It remains to be seen how he responds to this.<\/p>\n
With Jhon Duran leaving for the Saudi Pro League, though, there is a vacant place in Aston Villa\u2019s attacking ranks for Rashford to fill. Of course, Duran and Rashford are very different players, but the arrival of the latter could help Villa reach an even higher level over the second half of the season.<\/p>\n
Rashford will participate in the knockout rounds of the Champions League with Villa also hoping to finish in the Premier League\u2019s top five which would see them qualify for European football\u2019s most prestigious club competition once more. It\u2019s easy to see why a move to Aston Villa appealed. They\u2019re in a much better place than Manchester United right now.<\/p>\n
While Rashford is only on loan at Villa, it\u2019s difficult to see a way back for him as a United player. At 27, there is still time for Rashford to reach the top of the game again and Villa Park could be the perfect place for him to achieve this even if the winger initially saw AC Milan and Barca as more attractive options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The sight of Marcus Rashford wearing a club badge that isn\u2019t Manchester United\u2019s was jarring. After all, the 27-year-old had spent his entire career at Old Trafford before completing a loan move to Aston Villa on Sunday, posing alongside Monchi in his new training kit in the official announcement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":54847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[272],"class_list":["post-57082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-featurehome"],"yoast_head":"\n