Marcus Rashford makes Villa transfer ‘decision’ as two Euro giants ‘enter race’ with three reasons given

Marcus Rashford has reportedly made a ‘decision’ on whether to leave Manchester United for Aston Villa ‘permanently’ in the summer.

The England international announced at the end of 2024 that he intended to leave Man Utd during the winter transfer window as he was “ready” for a new challenge.

Rashford was linked with several European clubs in January, but his huge salary and poor form over the past two seasons proved to be stumbling blocks.

FC Barcelona were consistently mooted as his preferred destination, but he eventually settled on a move to Aston Villa as they needed a new forward after selling Jhon Duran to Al Nassr.

Man Utd head coach Ruben Amorim often bemoaned Rashford’s attitude before he left the Premier League giants, but the forward has settled in well at Villa Park as head coach Unai Emery is starting to get the best out of him.

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Rashford contributed two assists off the bench in Aston Villa’s recent 2-1 win against Chelsea. As things stand, the Premier League side will be tempted to make his loan permanent in the summer.

The 27-year-old joined Aston Villa on an initial loan deal with an option to buy for around £40m in the summer.

A report from The Sun claims Aston Villa has ‘made a decision’ as he’s ‘prepared to turn his January loan move to Aston Villa into a permanent deal’.

There are reportedly three reasons for Rashford’s stance: he ‘feels revitalised at Villa Park, believes Emery is the perfect manager to resurrect his Premier League and international career and he’s veering towards the idea of remaining in the Premier League rather than relocating overseas’.

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This report emerged after former Premier League chief scout Mick Brown claimed Barcelona and Bayern Munich have ‘entered the race’ to land Rashford in the summer.

He said: “I hear Barcelona and Bayern Munich are looking at him. If he keeps performing to his best level, it’s a three-way win-win-win situation.

“Villa win because they get a very good player for six months, Marcus wins because he has the opportunity to show off his talent and potential earn a big move.

“And at the end of the day, Man United win because they’re more likely to get their highest-paid player off the books rather than having an unhappy player at the club.

“If these top clubs are interested and they come in, his value will shoot up. United will look to drive his price tag up and make as much money as they can from him.

“Having these top teams interested will do them no harm at all. So then everybody’s a winner – but only if he keeps performing as well as he can.

“He’s certainly got enough in his locker, it’s just a question of if you can get it out of him, and I think he’s got to help himself by working hard to be the best he can be.

“So the likes of Bayern and Barcelona will be looking at him to see if he’s going to be at that level. It all depends what he can do while he’s at Villa, that’s the expectation.”