Marcus Rashford’s move to Aston Villa is now confirmed, with the English superstar all set to undergo the medical tests before switching alliances.
As revealed by David Ornstein of The Athletic, the 27-year-old will put pen to paper on a loan deal with the Villains, paying up to 70% of his mammoth £300,000-plus weekly salary.
There is also a permanent buy option included in the deal worth £40 million. Having spent his entire career at Manchester United, Rashford has been completely out of Ruben Amorim’s game plans. Unai Emery wanted to have him on board and convinced the authority to end the attacker’s nightmare.
🚨🟣🔵 Marcus Rashford to Aston Villa, here we go!
Agreement in place on loan deal with over 70% salary covered by Villa.
Buy option clause worth £40m also included in contract with potential three year and half deal to follow.
Medical booked today. pic.twitter.com/3z5EogHyPs
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 2, 2025
Marco Asensio is another player who is undergoing checks and could soon join the United star at Villa Park. But what does this move mean for Arsenal? Will it help them get their hands on their favourite striker target, Ollie Watkins, before the transfer window ends?
The Gunners are on the hunt for a star player who can spearhead their front line, and several individuals have been linked. However, Watkins seems to be at the top of the wish list.
Arsenal to place second Ollie Watkins bid
Ornstein recently confirmed that the North London outfit saw their first bid rejected for the English star. It was said that Villa weren’t happy with the timing of the bid and had no reason to accept Arsenal’s £60m offer. Some sources stated that they placed a first bid worth £45m for the player.
But since then Villa have sold Jhon Dhuran to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr for £64m, and they are open to accepting offers for Watkins if it is an alluring one. Miguel Delaney on X stated that Mikel Arteta’s side are now planning to test local rivals’ resolve and return to the negotiation table with an improved second offer.
🚨 Arsenal have been mulling over to return with another bid for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins. 👀🏴 [@MiguelDelaney] pic.twitter.com/BmMMzTmM1c
— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) February 2, 2025
They can’t miss on one more striker on the deadline day. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano stated that the situation is tense since Emery doesn’t want Watkins to leave, as he considers him to be an important asset for the second half of the season.
The experienced attacker has scored 11 goals and provided nine assists in 32 games in all competitions for his parent club. We think that it would take a really huge amount of money for Arsenal to get this deal over the line. Anything north of that will make this transfer even more complicated.
RELATED: Ollie Watkins tells Aston Villa that he wants to join Arsenal
It remains to be seen whether the Gooners place an aggressive offer on the table for the in-demand striker. They are also in talks with Bayern Munich sensation Mathys Tel’s camp as they look for all possible alternatives upfront.
