The latest Man Utd news as Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery, chats about the on-loan England forward.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has praised the versatility of Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford.
The 27-year-old was side-lined at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim, who excluded him from nearly all matchday squads following his last appearance on December 12, until he was loaned out to Aston Villa in February. Since relocating to Birmingham, Rashford has become a pivotal figure for Villa under Emery – chipping in with four goals and six assists.
Rashford’s upturn in form played a vital role in Villa’s journey to the Champions League quarter-finals, where they were eventually defeated by PSG over two legs. In addition, Rashford’s impressive performances earned him a call-up to the latest England squad by manager Thomas Tuchel.
The Manchester Evening News understands that Rashford will wait until the summer to decide on his future. Villa have an option to purchase him for £40million.
And Emery admits that the Villans are a better team with United’s academy graduate at their disposal ahead of a huge summer for the player and both clubs.
“You always need two strikers and being versatile is better,” he said on Friday. “Rashford is versatile. I want to have players like these two as we try to get to the level we want.
“I like to have players in the squad at the level those two [Rashford and Watkins] have shown us. My job is to share the playing time between both and manage the person as well as the professional – as well as the tactical idea and my selection for each match.
“I want to have the same selection problems I have had in the last matches we have played. Some players will be on the bench, but they are very important and they have showed it this season by making an impact.
“That’s what I want. I’ve had more problems when I didn’t have enough players to play at the level I wanted. Now I have enough to compete at this level, and we can see the difference between how we are now and how we were six months ago.”
Amorim has not completely shut the door on Rashford – at least publicly – and he claimed the forward could still have a future in Manchester.
“All the players on loan will return and then the club will decide what to do at the end of the season,” the former Sporting CP manager said on Friday. “When you put a player on loan the best thing is for them to perform.
“All these [loan] players have talent and they have to put that on the team. The talent of Rashford, the talent of Antony, they all have talent. We are really happy because, if you put players on loan, you want them to perform. That is good for us.”
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2025-04-26 09:30:11
