Manchester United’s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney has claimed that Marcus Rashford is still keen on lining up for his boyhood club despite enjoying a renaissance at Aston Villa.
Rashford fell out of favour under Ruben Amorim and was left out of several matchday squads, prompting the club to sanction his loan move to Villa. He has looked like a player reborn at the Birmingham outfit, registering an impressive return of six assists and three goals in 15 games.
The England international produced a top performance on Tuesday as Villa threatened to pull off a stunning comeback against Paris Saint-Germain.
He played more than an hour, delivering an exquisite assist for Ezri Konsa but the hosts just couldn’t quite get over the finish line.
Speaking on Amazon Prime after the game, Rashford’s former United teammate Rooney said that he hopes the 27-year-old will return to Old Trafford once his loan spell with Villa ends. Rooney added that Rashford still wants to play for the Red Devils.
Rooney explained [as quoted by the Daily Mail], “Marcus Rashford wants to play for Manchester United, 100 per cent. He is a Manchester lad, Man United fan, and over the last couple of years it has been difficult. He needed to play and it was clear he wouldn’t play for the rest of the season at United.”
“He has clearly shown, sometimes you have to keep banging on the manager’s door, put them in a position where they can’t leave you out in an ideal world he would like to leave a legacy at United, whether that is possible I don’t know, but this is what I’d love to see.”
Rooney added [via Express], “We have to give a massive shoutout to Marcus Rashford, I thought he was fantastic, [it was like] the Rashford we’ve seen over the years. Massive skill, ability, you see here [during a replay of the goal], getting at players, driving at them, pulling the ball back.”
“The big thing [for Villa] now is keeping hold of them players, Marco Asensio, Rashford, but I hope they don’t [keep hold of them].”
“I hope Rashford goes back to United and performs like he did tonight, that’s what we all want to see as Man United fans. They [Villa] would have to finish in the Champions League, it would be a waste.”
Villa have the option of making Rashford’s signing a permanent one for £40m.
Meanwhile, United return to action on Thursday as they welcome Lyon for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie. The aggregate score is level at 2-2 following the first leg.
Feature image Dan Istitene via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
