Marcus Rashford has completed a shock loan move to Ashton Villa, where he will remain for the rest of the season.
As part of the agreement, Villa have the option to sign him permanently in the summer and will cover at least 75% of his £300,000-plus weekly wages, potentially rising to 90% with bonuses. However, no loan fee was involved in the deal.
The England forward has been absent from Manchester United’s last 13 matches, making just one bench appearance, after manager Ruben Amorim initially dropped him for the Manchester derby due to concerns over his training performances.
In December, the 27-year-old expressed his desire for a “new challenge” and attracted interest from clubs such as AC Milan, Barcelona, Broussia Dortmund, and Juventus.
Villa moved for Rashford after selling their top scorer, Jhon Duran, to Al-Nassr for £64million and were willing to take on the bulk of the forward’s wages.
Rashford becomes Unai Emery’s third signing of the transfer window, following the arrivals of winger Donyell Malen and right-back Andres Garcia. Villa have also offloaded centre-back Diego Carlos and winger Jaden Philogene.
Meanwhile Manchester United, who recently signed defenders Ayden Heaven and Patrick Dorgu, are actively seeking a replacement for Rashford. They have shown interest in Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel and have also loaned Anthony to Real Betis on a similar deal, with no loan fee but a significant portion of his wages covered.
Rashford departs United with 138 goals in 426 appearances, having scored seven times this season. He remains under contract till 2028 after signing a five-year extension in 2023, following his career-best 30-goal campaign.
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