- Villa have turned to Rashford after Jhon Duran sealed a £65m move to Al Nassr
- Emery’s side will cover a significant part of forward’s £350,000 a week salary
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Ollie Watkins to Arsenal? It’s terrible planning from Arsenal… it’s all a bit late and panicked from the Gunners!
Aston Villa are closing in on a loan deal for Marcus Rashford in what would be one of their most remarkable signings of modern times.
The Manchester United forward is out of favour at Old Trafford and will be allowed to leave before the window closes on Monday. Rashford’s wages of about £350,000 are well in excess of the salary of Villa’s top earner, though to be Emi Martinez.
It is understood Villa will contribute a significant proportion of Rashford’s salary, which will included performance-based clauses. The agreement is also set to include a buy option at the end of the season.
Villa boss Unai Emery has been desperate for a forward but the move for Rashford would still be surprising. Frozen out by Ruben Amorim, the 27-year-old has not played a competitive match since December 12 it is unclear whether he could hit the ground running.
After selling Jhon Duran to Al Nassr for a deal that could reach £70million, Villa were left with Ollie Watkins as their only senior centre-forward. Emery said Watkins would not leave this month despite a bid from Arsenal last Wednesday.
Though Arsenal believed Watkins was open to joining them, Emery tried to shut down the move on Friday, with Villa preparing to take on Wolves at Molineux on Saturday. He had been keen to bring in Joao Felix but AC Milan are also pushing to sign the Chelsea forward.
Aston Villa are close to agreeing a deal to sign Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford
Unai Emery’s side will cover a significant part of forward’s £350,000 a week salary
Aston Villa are to bolster their attack after selling Jhon Duran to Al Nassr for £64.5million
The Gunners made an offer for Watkins hours before Villa’s 4-2 win over Celtic in the Champions League last Wednesday – even though Villa were close to selling Jhon Duran, their other centre-forward, to Al Nassr, with that deal expected to go through on Friday.
Emery would say after the Celtic only that he ‘wanted’ to keep Watkins at Villa Park but he was far more clear on the matter on Friday.
Asked whether he could state that Watkins was not for sale, Emery said: ‘Yes, yes. We talked with him and he is very focused on the message we have.
‘He is happy to stay. You can ask him, but we asked him how he is feeling every day, every year he has been here with Aston Villa, with us and without us.’
‘The commitment of Ollie Watkins with us is a huge commitment. He appreciates a lot how Aston Villa were always supporting him, helping him, and when we arrived here two years ago, how we worked with him, always trying to get the best of him.
‘Now we need him, like he needed Aston Villa. I am speaking with him a lot and he is always adapting of every circumstance we have in the squad.
‘When some teams call us to show interest in the players, of course it is very good for us and very good for the players.
‘Some players prefer to leave and some players accept to stay here, to be here and commit with us. One of those is Ollie Watkins.’
