Aston Villa closing on sensational Marcus Rashford loan deal | OneFootball

Aston Villa are close to agreeing a loan deal for Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, which is likely to include an option to buy.

The 27-year-old has been the subject of widespread interest throughout the January transfer window after being cast to one side at Old Trafford by an unimpressed Ruben Amorim.

Rashford's commitment and efforts levels in training have been openly questioned by United's head coach, and he has been out of the first-team picture ever since being dropped alongside Alejandro Garnacho for the Manchester Derby on 15 December.

AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona have been strongly linked with taking Rashford abroad, while Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United have been touted as potential destinations at home.

But a late bid from Aston Villa, who moved forward Jhon Duran on to Al Nassr in a blockbuster £65m transfer on Friday, is now edging towards completion, The Athletic report, with the Champions League hopefuls prepared to cover a large portion of his £325,000-per-week salary.

Amorim and Rashford are not on the same page / Justin Setterfield/GettyImages

Other performance related bonuses are set to be included in the deal, with Villa targeting another top-four finish in conjunction with their exploits in the Champions League - the 1982 winners are straight through to the round of 16 after a thrilling 4-2 win over Celtic, which featured a record-breaking performance from Morgan Rogers, sealed a top-eight finish in the league phase.

Villa manager Unai Emery is understood to have pushed for talks to begin for Rashford, believing the wide forward, who can also operate as a central number nine, to possess dangerous qualities in the final third.

Rashford has proven that he can consistently deliver at the highest level, previously scoring 30 goals in all competitions during Erik ten Hag's first season as United manager. But he's been unable to sustain that form, losing his place in the side at times before falling foul of Amorim's methods since his appointment in November.

The United academy graduate burst onto the scened during the 2015/16 season and has since played 426 games in all competitions, scoring 138 goals. He has also been capped 60 times by England but was left out of Gareth Southgate's squad for Euro 2024.