Marcus Rashford could bank Aston Villa £60m profit if he ‘kicks on’ as Saudi route remains viable

Aston Villa could bank around £60million profit from Marcus Rashford, per Keith Wyness, who believes if he “kicks on” he could be signed and flipped to the Saudi Pro League at some point for a big fee.

Rashford was almost certain to leave Manchester United in January. He had not played at all in the month, nor had he for most of the month prior, with Ruben Amorim unhappy with what he was seeing from him.

It has been suggested that the forward may never get back in at United, but he’s found refuge at Villa Park, with a club who are currently five places and eight points ahead of the Red Devils.

Villa have the option of signing Rashford permanently after a few months on loan, for £40million, and if he has a decent spell there, their former chief Wyness feels he could be signed, which opens up the possibility of Villa making big money from the forward.

“With Rashford, Villa have agreed to cover 75 per cent of his wages. That comes to about £5million for the rest of the season. It’s not a big dent,” Wyness told Football Insider.

“There’s an option to buy for around £40million. If he kicks on and does well for half the season, Villa could buy him and know they could re-sell him for £80-100million.

“They know he will always be wanted down in Saudi Arabia. He can kick on and do well, stay for next season – and maybe then they could look to sell in a year or two.

“It’s a gamble, they’ve got to get him match fit – but he could be very valuable for them in Europe if he gets it together. It could be a very smart deal.”

Rashford is clearly capable of being a £100million player. Two seasons ago, he bagged 30 goals in all competitions, and looked right at his very best.

Though Amorim was not happy with how Rashford was training, Emery is not the sort of manager who would take a gamble on a player he did not think he could get the best from, so it will be expected that the forward will come good enough to be signed permanently.

READ MORE: Ruben Amorim is ‘out of his depth’ as Richard Keys suggests he may ‘want out already’