Marcus Rashford told Aston Villa move ‘more than he deserves’ with Emery warned he’s taking ‘massive risk’

Aston Villa have been warned they are taking a ‘massive risk’ by bringing in Marcus Rashford from Manchester United and that he could have a ‘detrimental effect’ on what they’re trying to build.

Rashford will undergo a medical with Aston Villa today ahead of his six-month loan move from Man Utd, where he hasn’t played since December after falling out of favour under head coach Ruben Amorim.

Aston Villa will be just the second club Rashford has ever represented in his career as he aims to get back on track. But his form even before Amorim froze him out at Man Utd hasn’t been encouraging.

And according to Jamie Redknapp, Rashford represents a major risk for Aston Villa – who are arguably a bigger club than he ‘deserves’ to be joining at this stage.

Redknapp told Sky Sports: “When you look at it, we’re going back to 2022-23 which was a fantastic season for him, but then you look at the last two years – and two years is a long time in football.

“It wasn’t really a case of him being injured that I can remember. Some of the clips of him just strolling around went viral. I remember one against Luton where the ball’s there and he’s just jogging and you can’t do that.

“When you’re a star player at Manchester United, you’ve got to be the man who’s going to lead from the front.

“You could talk about potential all day long, but he’s not a kid anymore. If this move does happen for him, it’d be an unbelievable one – perhaps more than what he deserves right now, because Villa’s a massive club.

“But it’ll be an opportunity for him to go and get his career going again, because that’s what he’s got to do.

“No one else can do it. It’s not up to Unai Emery, it’s not up to Aston Villa, it’s up to Marcus Rashford to go and put himself back out there as a player again.”

Redknapp continued: “Marcus Rashford, whatever way you look at it, is a massive risk. It’s a huge risk.

“If you take away his talent, if he comes in and doesn’t really want to perform or doesn’t come in and buy into the environment you’re trying to produce, it can have a detrimental effect as well.

“I hope it doesn’t; I hope he comes in and fires goals in left, right and centre, we’ll say what a good player he is because he’s too good a talent to waste.”

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Marcus Rashford’s Man Utd exit timeline

➡️ November 24, 2024: Rashford started as a striker in Amorim’s first game in charge of United and scored two minutes into what ends up as a 1-1 draw.

➡️ December 15, 2024: Amorim left Rashford out of his squad completely for the Manchester derby, allegedly after the forward went on a night out on the Friday.

➡️ December 17, 2024: A one-club man up to that point, Rashford claimed in an interview with Henry Winter that he was ‘ready for a new challenge’.

➡️ December 30, 2024: Rashford earned a recall to the Man Utd squad, but was not brought on against Newcastle. It would be his last call-up under Amorim.

➡️ January 7, 2025: David Ornstein confirmed Rashford’s main suitors for a winter move were AC Milan, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus.

➡️ January 8, 2025: Rashford’s agent travelled to Italy to hold talks with AC Milan over a potential loan move.

➡️ January 23, 2025: West Ham entered the race to take Rashford away from United but keep him in the Premier League.

➡️ January 24, 2025: Milan signed Kyle Walker instead of Rashford, using up their last slot for an English player and ruling out that destination.

➡️ January 27, 2025: Amorim claimed he would rather put goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital on the bench than a player who ‘doesn’t give the maximum every day’ like Rashford.

➡️ January 31, 2025: Reports emerged that Aston Villa were considering making a late bid for Rashford.

➡️ February 1, 2025: Talks between Villa and United for Rashford’s loan move reached an advanced stage.

➡️ February 2, 2025: Rashford was booked in for a medical to become a Villa player on loan for the rest of the season.