Manchester United would “never in a million years” have let Marcus Rashford join Arsenal on loan in January, according to former United goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Speaking on his podcast, Foster declared that the club “happily” sent the 27-year-old to Aston Villa who represent the “next rung down.”
Certainly there is less historic rivalry between the Red Devils and the Villans, who are not one of the so-called ‘big six’ English sides, but it is an uncomfortable truth that Rashford’s only tastes of Champions League football this season will come under Unai Emery.
The player’s last minutes in United red came in the early December defeat to Nottingham Forest, with Ruben Amorim consistently overlooking him thereafter before sanctioning a loan departure in the winter transfer window.
There was tremendous speculation as to where the forward would end up, and Arsenal were among the names mentioned.
But for Foster, even the suggestion that the Carrington graduate could have ended up at the Emirates is laughable. He said: “Man United would never loan him to Arsenal, never in a million years.
“Even if Marcus Rashford kicks off massively, Manchester United would never, ever, ever send him to Arsenal, never in a million years.
“[They would] happily send him to Villa, it’s that next rung down, they won’t be sending him to Arsenal, I guarantee you that.”
As for the player himself, it seems that he sees Villa Park as a temporary home rather than the loan paving the way for a permanent move, as he stressed that “obviously it’s only short term that I’m here” in an interview with the club upon arrival.
It is widely believed that Rashford has his heart set on a switch to Barcelona, who are thought to have him on their shortlist for summer reinforcements but nothing concrete has materialised.
Meanwhile links to Arsenal are unlikely to disappear as injuries have laid bare Mikel Arteta’s lack of depth in attacking areas.
Rashford has made a solid start to life at Villa, featuring in four Premier League matches for Unai Emery and returning two assists – one more than he managed for United in 15 matches.
Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
