Manchester United hope to bring an Aston Villa forward to Old Trafford as part of a cash-plus-player swap deal that would see Marcus Rashford join Aston Villa outright, according to a report.
Rashford has shone during his loan spell with Aston Villa, notching nine goal contributions in 16 appearances so far. The Man Utd loanee does not have a future back at Old Trafford and his agreement with Villa contains an option to buy worth £40m.
The Sun are among those to have claimed Villa and manager Unai Emery fully intend to sign Rashford to a permanent deal.
Others like Fabrizio Romano have been more cautious in their reporting, insisting Villa won’t make a final decision until knowing which European competition they’ll play in next season.
But according to a fresh update from The Daily Star, Villa might not have to activate the £40m option to bring Rashford back.
It’s claimed Man Utd are weighing up an approach that would see Rashford and Ollie Watkins trade places.
Watkins looked unplayable at times during Villa’s 4-1 thumping of Newcastle on Saturday. However, the 29-year-old was dropped to the bench for both of Villa’s Champions League clashes with PSG, with Rashford chosen to lead the line instead.
The report claims Man Utd hope to capitalise on any brewing dissatisfaction at being usurped by Rashford by offering to make Watkins a guaranteed starter at Old Trafford.
Where next for Marcus Rashford?
To make the deal viable it’s claimed Man Utd would include a ‘significant cash payment’ to top up their end of the deal. How much Man Utd would need to pay wasn’t specified in the piece.
Watkins could have been on the move in the winter window, with Arsenal tabling a late bid for the frontman.
Watkins was open to joining The Gunners, though having just sold Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr, Villa were in no mood to lose Watkins too.
Rashford is expected to have other options in the event a permanent switch to Aston Villa is not in his future.
A move abroad to a major European league – and LaLiga specifically – was viewed favourably by Rashford when his future came to a crossroads in January.
Rashford’s preference out of all the club who showed interest was Barcelona and TEAMtalk understands the forward would seriously consider offers to move to mainland Europe.
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