Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has played himself out of too many second chances at the club, and, this past winter window, the Red Devils finally came to the realization under new manager Ruben Amorim that he’s never going to click at Old Trafford.
Teams outside of England were unable to facilitate a loan move for Rashford due to his astronomic wages, but Manchester United were able to find a credible landing spot in European hopefuls Aston Villa.
Although Villa sit seventh in the Premier League and Rashford has been decent in a rotational role with two goals and two assists with four starts, Aston Villa will finish the 2024/25 season lower than the 2023/24 campaign.
Marcus Rashford is now injured
So Rashford’s long-term future remains uncertain, especially since he makes more than 15 million pounds per season to play at a level that is basically the league average for a starting forward.
To make matters worse, The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported that Marcus Rashford is now expected to miss the remainder of the 2024/25 Premier League season with a hamstring injury.
It’s a tough blow to Aston Villa and an even tougher one to Rashford personally, but it is also a blow to Manchester United. The best ability is availability, and Rashford didn’t do much to answer the questions about him in his 10 appearances with Villa.
He was, again, fairly average, and the flashes of potential are nothing new for the England international. Rashford is a decent player, but he’s not worth paying 15 million pounds per season.
Manchester United still need a new forward
Worse yet, for Manchester United, he’s not worth paying 50 million pounds for, and after this loan to Aston Villa, Man United are going to find themselves back to square one when it comes to finding a landing spot for Rashford.
There are so many boxes to check. He would have to go somewhere willing to buy, somewhere able to challenge his ambition, somewhere willing to pay his wages, and, preferably, somewhere that isn’t going to come back to haunt Manchester United in the long run. It’s going to be hard to find all of those in one.
We can only wish Rashford the best in his recovery from a hamstring injury, because, from a footballing and business perspective, this situation puts Manchester United in a bind when they would ideally take Rashford’s wages, squad spot, and funds from a transfer to use and sign a real goal-scorer at striker after whiffing on Joshua Zirkzee in the previous summer transfer window.
Joe Soriano covers Tottenham for FanSided’s Hotspur HQ and writes about Real Madrid for The Real Champs. He has extensive experience covering world football since 2014. Joe is an editor for The Trivela Effect, where he covers the biggest clubs in European football. He has watched professional sports regularly since 2002 and can be found playing the same sports he covers with his friends.