Marcus Rashford wasn’t very helpful to Manchester United’s cause in the last two seasons but he can do the club a huge favour immediately after leaving.
Marcus Rashford is set to join Aston Villa on an initial loan with the option for Villa to make it permanent for £40 million.
It brings to an end a transfer saga that lasted through the window, with numerous twists and turns and ultimately ending somewhat anti-climactically.
However, it has one silver lining, and it could be visible almost immediately after his departure.
Marcus Rashford can help Man Utd
It can be argued that Rashford has already helped United by sealing a move elsewhere as it frees up massive wages on the salary bill.
That could well allow United to sign a striker in the remaining time this window, a huge bonus since the team was effectively playing without Rashford.
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At the same time, his going to a Premier League team means Man Utd fans will be privy to his exploits with that much more ease, not ideal for an academy product who should have been the poster boy of the club.
However, his exploits could be beneficial to United almost immediately, as a single glance at Aston Villa’s fixture list reveals.
Villa’s next game is at home to Spurs in the FA Cup, a competition which United hope to win after knocking out Arsenal in the previous round.
Rashford is likely to get some minutes straight away, even if only from the bench, and if he plays a part in knocking out Spurs, that would be an immediate favour to United, especially from a narrative POV since Spurs knocked out United from the Carabao Cup.
Man Utd will hope Rashford shows out
It is easy to get on the hate train for Rashford as a Man Utd fan considering how badly it has gone sour for him at Old Trafford, especially professionally.
The expectation from him was that much higher because of his status as an academy product but he has failed staggeringly short, it seems personally and professionally.
However, it is in United’s best interests that Rashford shows out and performs well at Villa because, for all intents and purposes, he’s done at United.
The only way the club emerges from this as a slight victor is if they manage to offload him on favourable terms and get his salary completely off the wage bill.
For that to happen, he needs to perform well at Aston Villa, starting with Tottenham in the FA Cup.
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