Marcus Rashford is at the centre of a “win-win-win situation” as two Euro giants look set to rival Aston Villa for the permanent transfer of the Manchester United star.
Rashford joined Villa on loan in January after being ostracised by Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford, and although he’s started just one of the five games he’s been available for at Villa Park, the England international has shown glimpses of his best form.
He came on at half-time against Chelsea to turn the game on its head with two assists, and displays like that look set to benefit him, Aston Villa and Manchester United, according to former United and Villa scout Mick Brown.
“I hear Barcelona and Bayern Munich are looking at him,” Brown told Football Insider.
“If he keeps performing to his best level, it’s a three-way win-win-win situation.
“Villa win because they get a very good player for six months, Marcus wins because he has the opportunity to show off his talent and potential earn a big move.
“And at the end of the day, Man United win because they’re more likely to get their highest-paid player off the books rather than having an unhappy player at the club.
“If these top clubs are interested and they come in, his value will shoot up.
“United will look to drive his price tag up and make as much money as they can from him.
“Having these top teams interested will do them no harm at all.
“So then everybody’s a winner – but only if he keeps performing as well as he can.
“He’s certainly got enough in his locker, it’s just a question of if you can get it out of him, and I think he’s got to help himself by working hard to be the best he can be.
“So the likes of Bayern and Barcelona will be looking at him to see if he’s going to be at that level.
“It all depends what he can do while he’s at Villa, that’s the expectation.”
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Sam Allardyce insists Rashford still has to “prove himself” at Villa and urged the 27-year-old not to make the same mistake as former Red Devils teammate Jesse Lingard.
Allardyce said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: “He [Rashford] doesn’t fit into that type of system.
“He’s got to prove himself for the first time in a long time. As a kid, he had to prove himself by being good enough to break into United’s first team, now he has to prove himself to the Aston Villa players.
“He’s going out there with a new manager and new teammates and that’s got to inspire him, rather than languishing at Man United.”
Former Man Utd academy graduate Lingard struggled to reach his potential at the Red Devils and now plays for South Korean club FC Seoul.
And Rashford’s situation at Man Utd has reminded Allardyce of the same situation Lingard was in with the winger eventually turning down a permanent move to West Ham in favour of staying at Old Trafford.
Allardyce added: “It reminds me of Jesse Lingard, he was languishing at Man United and then Moyes rescued him.
“Lingard made the worst mistake ever not going with Moyes to West Ham. He went to Forest and just petered out again and now he’s somewhere obscure in South Korea.
“This was an England international player in his early 20s. Players moving is the biggest thing you can do.
“If you’re stagnating at your football club, pack your bag and move on, because your football career will soon be finished before you know it.”
