Rashford fell out of favor with Ruben Amorim, who frequently criticized his training performance and left him out of matchday squads. ..Continue Reading
His final appearance for United was in a Europa League game against Viktoria Plzen in November, after which Rashford expressed a desire for a new challenge away from his boyhood club.
Aston Villa signed the England international on loan until the end of the season, giving him the No.9 shirt after Jhon Duran’s £62.5 million transfer to Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
Under Unai Emery, Rashford has rejuvenated his career, providing three assists in his first seven appearances.
The 27-year-old has shown remarkable sharpness whenever he has played for Villa. On Tuesday night, he helped them secure a significant 3-1 Champions League round of 16 first-leg victory over Club Brugge.
Although Maxim De Cuyper equalized Leon Bailey’s opener, Villa took control late in the second half with a goal-line clearance from Tyrone Mings, an own goal by Brandon Mechele, and a penalty from Marco Asensio.
Rashford enjoyed the win under the lights and took to Instagram after the final whistle in Bruges, writing: “Champions League Nights. We’re at the halfway stage! See you next week.”
Rashford featured six times on Thursday nights in the Europa League but is now playing in Europe’s big competition once again.
While he was criticised by Amorim for not applying himself, Villa captain John McGinn has been impressed by the work-rate and performances from both Rashford and Asensio.
“They’ve been a breath of fresh air, three really good guys, obviously come with big reputations but they haven’t shown any ego,” McGinn told TNT Sports.
“They’re pretty low maintenance, they work hard to get their careers back on track.
“They obviously weren’t playing at their clubs, so what we can give them is a platform to do that and be happy, and all we want in return is for them to be a good team-mate, work hard, do the things we’ve all been doing over the last couple of seasons and show their quality. They’ve been brilliant.”
According to Fabrizio Romano, Aston Villa have the option to buy Rashford permanently for a fee of £40m. If activated, he would sign a three-and-a-half-year deal.
