Six years ago to this day, Aston Villa were battling out a 0-0 draw with Reading in the Championship. Now, under the spell of Unai Emery, they are signing Marcus Rashford who has opted to leave Manchester United because his new club can offer Champions League football.
These are heady times at Villa Park and the arrival of Rashford is further evidence of the transformational effect Emery has had on this historic club. Rashford has joined on an initial loan deal until the end of the season, with an option for Villa to sign the England international permanently for £40 million.
It is a huge investment from Villa, who are paying around 75 per cent of his wages which are understood to be £325,000 a week. It is also something of a gamble, despite Rashford’s past achievements and impressive CV with United and England.
The Rashford of 2025 needs a reboot. His reputation has been damaged by the past 12 months at United, where he has gone from being the club’s poster boy and homegrown star to an emblem of their malaise. It had even got to a stage where Rashford was booed by his own fans.
Ruben Amorim, the United manager, has made it perfectly clear that he has no future under him. His application in training has been in question – and that is one thing Emery will never tolerate.
What will Villa be getting from a player who will be 28 in October? He should be approaching his peak years, and if anybody can revive his Premier League career, it will be Villa’s manager. He has developed and improved so many players over the years that rebuilding Rashford should be a simple task.
You only have to consider the progress of Morgan Rogers over the past six months to realise that Emery’s best work is on the training pitches at Bodymoor Heath. He is incredibly meticulous and demanding. Video analysis will be at the forefront, and lengthy team meetings.
Rashford unquestionably has the ability and talent to emerge from a year of drift. Perhaps he just needs a change of scenery after so many months of underachievement at Old Trafford
Inevitably there will be huge scrutiny and pressure. There will also be questions over what position Rashford plays.
Though Ollie Watkins was taken off at half-time in the defeat at Wolves on Saturday with a muscle injury, he is expected to return soon.
Watkins has been employed as a lone forward in a fluid 4-3-3 formation, and the difficulty in playing both him and Jhon Durán together was a constant concern.
Durán departed last week for Saudi Arabia, in a £65 million move to Al-Nassr, and the view is that Emery clearly backed Watkins over the Colombian.
Career in desperate need of positive publicity
Rashford is likely to be utilised out wide, either on the left or right. He has played there before, and the freedom Emery allows his attacking players should liberate him. The prospect of Watkins, Rashford and Rogers playing together will be exciting for Emery. And that is before you even consider other attacking options such as Donyell Malen, Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey and, perhaps, Paris St-Germain’s Marco Asensio.
Rashford will need patience at first. He has not featured for United since a Europa League tie against Viktoria Plzen on December 12.
While he still harbours hopes of an England recall, the prospect of Champions League football at Villa will be a major incentive behind his move. Villa do not return to their European excursions until early March, when they play in the round of 16. By that time, we will know how the latest chapter in Rashford’s story is panning out.
Emery needs this to work, as Villa seek a spark to jump-start the second half of their season. They have won only two of their last seven league games and, at the moment, a top-four finish appears a stretch.
Rashford will hopefully realise that Villa are offering him a huge opportunity here. He needs to grab it. It is nowhere near the last-chance saloon, but his career desperately needs some positive publicity.
