Former Manchester United captain Ashley Young has dropped a telling verdict on Marcus Rashford after Aston Villa’s Champions League clash with PSG on Tuesday.
Marcus Rashford made his exit from Manchester United during the January window and he signed for Premier League side Aston Villa in a loan deal back in February.
The 27-year-old United player lost his place in the Red Devils starting XI under Ruben Amorim and he opted to try and revive his career away from Old Trafford.
Villa did not have to pay a transfer fee for Rashford and the Premier League club is reportedly covering the large majority of the United star’s wages during his loan.
The United and England star is on loan for the rest of the 2024-25 campaign and Villa have the option to buy Rashford from the Red Devils for a £40m transfer fee.
Since his arrival at Villa Park, Rashford has made 15 appearances under Villa manager Unai Emery and he has scored three times and registered six assists so far.
Ashley Young made his feelings clear on Man Utd and England player Marcus Rashford after Aston Villa vs PSG in the Champions League
Marcus Rashford led the frontline for Aston Villa during Tuesday evening’s second-leg Champions League quarter-final tie against PSG at Villa Park.
The Manchester United and England player picked up an assist in the match before Unai Emery withdrew Rashford and replaced him with Ollie Watkins.
Villa came from 2-0 down to beat PSG 3-2 on the night in the Champions League, but Emery’s men crashed out due to the aggregate scoreline.
PSG hosted Villa for the first-leg Champions League quarter-final encounter at the Parc des Princes last Wednesday and the French side sealed a 3-1 win in Paris.
Speaking after the 3-2 scoreline at Villa Park, Ashley Young is convinced that Rashford is “pushing” for a club like Villa and wants United to let him leave.
“Rashford just wants to play football,” he told Amazon Prime Video, as per BBC Sport.
“He’s come on loan and done so well. His confidence is coming back and maybe he’s pushing to get to a club like Aston Villa and pushing Manchester United to let him go.”
Unai Emery questioned over his decision to pull off Marcus Rashford during Aston Villa’s Champions League quarter-final match vs PSG
Former Aston Villa and England defender Stephen Warnock admitted that he was left scratching his head at Emery making the call to sub off Rashford against PSG.
“I don’t know what Unai Emery saw, with the way Marcus Rashford was playing, he got it wrong,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Rashford was brilliant. Rashford was involved in everything and everything which was good was coming from him.
“It felt like the tempo dropped when he made that substitution. You need a goal – why are you taking a striker off?
“If you want to pin PSG back, you play Rashford and Watkins in between the full-back and centre-halves and you stretch those balls over the top.”
Rashford is under contract with United until 2028 and it remains unclear if the England star will return to Old Trafford for the 2025-26 Premier League campaign.
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