Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, who has been heavily linked to FC Barcelona since mid-January, has reportedly found a new potential buyer towards the end of the transfer window. United's Premier League rivals Aston Villa are now interested in getting the speedy English forward, reports said.
Unai Emery's Aston Villa, who are eighth in the English top flight, is running from pillar to post to replace their Colombian attacker Jhon Duran who made a switch to Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr FC. With the transfer deadline fast approaching, decision-makers at Villa Park have scrambled every asset at their disposal to find a new attacker. Unsettled Bayern Munich attacker Mathys Tell and Chelsea's Jao Felix were linked to the club before Rashford came into the picture.
Marcus Rashford transfer saga
According to reports, Borussia Dortmund were also interested in getting Rashford, but his hefty weekly wage of around £350,000 was too much for the Bundesliga club.
While the 27-year-old United graduate considers a move to Barcelona the best option, the La Liga side's financial problems may cause him a heartbreak. Ruben Amorim is not even looking at Rashford unless it is a mandatory team meeting and Rashford knows he would get no more game time at Old Trafford under the Portuguese gaffer. Thus, he got no choice but to settle for the next best offer available before him, making a switch to Aston Villa more possible than probable. Unai Emery's team had already reached out to United to enquire about Rashford, ESPN said in a report.
Aston Villa are treading cautiously as they are closer to the profit and sustainability (PSR) limit and don't want any restrictions imposed. The selling of Duran to Al Nassr is believed to offer them some breathing space. Earlier this month, Dutch attacker Donyell Malen had joined Villa from Dortmund for an undisclosed fee.
