Marcus Rashford’s loan spell at Aston Villa might be going well and the narrative to make Man Utd feel bad about letting him go is a strong one but apparently things aren’t all smooth sailing.
Marcus Rashford was always expected to start playing well once he left Man Utd since he looked burdened with expectations at Old Trafford.
That has proved to be the case, with Rashford flying at Villa and already impressing notoriously tough to impress Unai Emery.
However, according to Ian Wright, Emery’s handling of Rashford has already started to wear thin with an Aston Villa star who’s feeling ‘disrespected’.
Trouble could be brewing at Villa…
Marcus Rashford’s arrival causing tension at Aston Villa
It goes without saying that despite joining Villa at the lowest point of his career, Rashford walked into that dressing room as its most high-profile player.
That has been reflected in Emery’s handling of the player as well, which can be seen in how many interviews Emery has given and praised Rashford in.
For a manager who has always espoused the virtue of teamwork over anything else, Emery has only been too happy to put it to one side when praising Rashford.
A happy Rashford has delivered the goods too, even though he’s been playing in a position that was the bane of his existence at United – as a striker.
Ian Wright, speaking on The Overlap, has now claimed that Rashford’s arrival and Emery’s handling of the player has left Villa’s incumbent striker, Ollie Watkins, ‘fuming’.
Wright said: “With Marcus Rashford coming, he [Watkins] feels a bit disrespected. There’s a certain, he’s got every reason to be frustrated. He’s fuming because as a striker, you want to be out there and scoring goals. When he came on against Newcastle, he was brilliant.
That should have been enough for him to get his spot back. If he’s not getting his spot back when he’s doing his stuff [vs Newcastle], then he’s got to be fuming.”
Marcus Rashford is unlikely to stay at Aston Villa
For all the good Rashford has done at Villa, this feels like a temporary move despite the buy clause in the loan move negotiated in January.
Neither do Villa have the financial muscle to match Rashford’s wages at United, nor is the player likely to be happy staying at Villa when he dreams of a truly elite club.
How realistic that dream is remains to be seen but if Rashford doesn’t stay at Villa, it would be blessing in disguise for United who can spark a bidding war from a position of strength.
In the meantime, Watkins can feel rightly sidelined by Rashford playing as the striker ahead of him because it hurts his own chances of a future move as well.
To be benched by a player who has publicly said he doesn’t like playing as a striker is not a good look and Emery’s handling of Rashford could spiral into a full-blown mess with Watkins soon if it isn’t addressed.
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