Rashford will fit in well with Villa’s team of lost talents

Marcus Rashford was there at the start of the Unai Emery project.

- RICHARD JOLLY

He played in the Spaniard's first two games at Aston Villa. Not for Aston Villa, admittedly: he was part of the Manchester United side beaten 3-1 in Emery's auspicious debut, a scorer four days later as, in a Carabao Cup rematch, the new manager was condemned to a first defeat in charge. It capped a fine day for Rashford, who had been named in England’s World Cup squad that afternoon.

He was to score three goals in Qatar, 30 for United that season. At that point, encouragingly as Emery had begun, it felt implausible to say that, a couple of years later, he would be declaring that “it’s the constant ambition that is attractive”. Or not about Villa, anyway. Because if they had shown ambition even before hiring Emery – the previous season’s flagship signing was Philippe Coutinho, like Rashford a big name on big wages and a cautionary tale now – then he was shaping up as the poster boy of Erik ten Hag’s reign.

Now there is a way in which Rashford has actually traded up by leaving United on loan for Villa. The 27-year-old has only started one knockout game in the Champions League in six seasons; given Villa’s last-16 opponents will be either Atalanta, Club Brugge, Borussia Dortmund or Sporting CP, it is possible he will play in the competition’s quarter-final for the first time since 2019.