Marcus Rashford’s move from Manchester United to Aston Villa has already had a direct knock-on effect on one of his teammates at Villa Park, according to reports.
The 27-year-old Manchester United forward made his club debut for Aston Villa on Sunday in the 2-1 win over Tottenham in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Marcus Rashford started the match on the bench before Unai Emery turned to the United loanee for the second half of the FA Cup tie at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s men were leading 2-0 before Donyell Malen was withdrawn and replaced by Rashford, who performed relatively well for Villa in his cameo display.
Villa’s victory over Tottenham was Rashford’s first competitive match since the Red Devils beat Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Europa League last December.
Rashford left Old Trafford before the transfer window shut on 3rd February and completed his loan move to Villa for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Villa did not have to pay a loan fee for the move and the Premier League club have an option to make Rashford’s move permanent for a £40 transfer fee.
Rashford’s wages have also been covered by Villa and the United player now has the opportunity to kickstart his career again away from Old Trafford.
Rashford’s transfer impacts Villa player
Marcus Rashford had fallen out of favour under Ruben Amorim after the Manchester United manager dropped him for the Manchester City match last December.
The England international had been tipped for a move abroad in the January transfer window after he admitted that his future was away from Old Trafford.
Rashford had been linked with Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and AC Milan, but the United forward remained in England and moved to Aston Villa instead.
According to The Daily Mail, Rashford’s transfer to Aston Villa has left at ‘least one’ of Unai Emery’s players ‘extremely unhappy’ due to the knock-on effect.
Rashford and Malen at Villa
Villa signed Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund last month and the 26-year-old Dutch forward could now miss out on playing Champions League football.
Malen had previously featured in the 2024 Champions League final for Borussia Dortmund, with the German side losing out to Real Madrid at Wembley.
However, The Daily Mail now reports that the former Borussia Dortmund player won’t be able to play in the Champions League with Villa due to Rashford’s arrival.
UEFA only allows clubs to include three winter signings to their Champions League squads as part of its rules, with Villa boss Unai Emery snubbing Malen.
Emery opted to include new signings Rashford, Axel Disasi and Marco Asensio in his Champions League squad ahead of the likes of Andres Garcia and Malen.
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