Following Aston Villa’s victory over Preston North End in the FA Cup, Unai Emery dispelled any claims towards Marcus Rashford’s commitment.
Ruben Amorim‘s falling out with Marcus Rashford was there for everyone to see. The Manchester United manager questioned Rashford’s commitment, publicly lambasting him for his lack of effort in training.
As a result, the 27-year-old was frozen out of the squad and left with no other option than to leave his boyhood club, joining Aston Villa on loan with a £40 million buy clause.
Rashford has started life at Aston Villa well, scoring a brace in Villa’s quarter-final FA Cup win over Preston North End.
In his post-match interview, Unai Emery aimed some potential digs towards Amorim and his questioning of Rashford’s mentality.
Choice words from Emery
As reported by BirminghamWorld, Emery said of Rashford: “He was coming here in the last two months not training consistently and not feeling very fit in the first matches with us,” perhaps aiming a subtle dig at Amorim, considering how little Amorim played Rashford prior to his move.
Emery is renowned as a manager who doesn’t take any nonsense, especially from players who don’t put the work in. On Rashford’s mindset he said: “His commitment to work and adapt quickly is very important. He is doing it.”
Rashford travelled to Birmingham with a point to prove, and it seems that he’s well on track to disproving the claims leveraged against him regarding his mindset and commitment to the squad.
With a £40 million option to buy in his loan deal and already loved by the Villa Park faithful, Rashford may play his way back into the England squad and perhaps earn himself a move to a bigger club.
What’s next for Rashford?
With Emery helping to dispel rumours of Rashford’s mentality, the appeal of signing the 27-year-old for clubs will be much higher, with Villa seemingly turning their heads towards the standing of bringing him on permanently. Emery’s words only reinforce this.
As there is no way back to Old Trafford for Rashford, a permanent switch to Villa Park is likely as they have the £40 million option to buy.
While they are increasingly likely to sign Rashford permanently, they will wait until the summer to make a final decision.
Barcelona, long-time admirers of the 27-year-old, have also shown interest in signing Rashford in the summer.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.