Marcus Rashford would be one of Aston Villa’s most impressive acquisitions in recent memory, and they are very close to signing him on a loan.
The Manchester United forward will be permitted to depart before the window ends on Monday since he is no longer popular at Old Trafford. Rashford’s around £350,000 pay is significantly more than that of Villa’s top earner, Emi Martinez.
It is acknowledged that Villa will pay a sizeable amount of Rashford’s salary, which will contain performance-based provisions. Additionally, a buyout option at the end of the season is part of the agreement.
Even if Villa manager Unai Emery has been in dire need of a forward, Rashford’s acquisition would still be unexpected. It’s unknown if the 27-year-old, who was frozen out by Ruben Amorim and hasn’t participated in a competitive match since December 12, might start right away.
Villa had only Ollie Watkins as their senior center-forward after selling Jhon Duran to Al Nassr for a reported £70 million. Despite an offer from Arsenal on Wednesday, Emery stated that Watkins will not be leaving this month.
With Villa ready to play Wolves at Molineux on Saturday, Emery attempted to thwart the move on Friday, despite Arsenal’s belief that Watkins was amenable to joining them. Joao Felix was someone he had hoped to bring in, but AC Milan are also pushing to sign the Chelsea forward.
Even though Villa was on the verge of selling their other center-forward, Jhon Duran, to Al Nassr, with the transaction anticipated to close on Friday, the Gunners made a bid for Watkins only hours before Villa’s 4-2 Champions League victory over Celtic last Wednesday.
After the Celtic match, Emery would merely state that he “wanted” to keep Watkins at Villa Park, but on Friday, he made it much clearer.
Emery responded, “Yes, yes,” when asked if he could declare that Watkins was not for sale. He is really focused on the message we have, according to our conversation.
He is content to remain. We asked him about his feelings every day for the entire year that he has been here with Aston Villa, both with and without us.
Ollie Watkins has made a significant commitment to us. He really values how Aston Villa has always been there for him, helping him out, and working with him since we moved here two years ago in an effort to outdo him.
He needed Aston Villa, and we need him now. He is always adapting to whatever situation we have in the squad, and I talk to him a lot.
Naturally, it benefits both the athletes and us when teams contact us to express interest in them.
While some players are willing to stay and commit to us, others would rather leave. Ollie Watkins is among them.