2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Andy Dunn)
First things first, the Premier League loan system remains a blot on the competition’s integrity. Clubs, supposedly rival clubs, should not be allowed to lend each other players. Teams are fielding players who have two paymasters from the same league - how can that be right? Teams are fielding players who cannot play in every match, who cannot play against certain opponents.
How can that be right? So, I am one of the very, very few who think Aston Villa should not have been allowed to borrow Marcus Rashford. Buy him? Yes. Borrow him? No.
But it is what it is, it is not going to change and Rashford will, quite probably, make his Aston Villa debut against Spurs in the FA Cup. And, after that, he will have little more than three months to take what really could be a final chance to get his career back on the path to greatness. And by greatness, I just mean ‘great player’.
Not greatness in a Messi sense, not greatness in a Ronaldo sense. Just a ‘great player’. Because that is what he should be.
What has gone wrong? Well, some people would point to the five-year, £325,000-a-week contract he signed in the summer of 2023, which coincided with a prolonged dip in his effectiveness. But who, since then, has been anything like effective in a Manchester United squad that has become unfit for purpose? Other people make sweeping assumptions based on the odd story of Rashford’s social activities. If he has time off, is he not allowed to go and watch a basketball match in New York? And, so what if you don’t like his jacket? Perhaps there has been the odd time when he has not been ultra-professional but that would be true of many Premier League players.
They are only human. But, of course, the criticism of his actual performances on the pitch brings valid negativity, even allowing for him being in a mediocre team. Rashford’s impact over the past season and a half has been so limited that it is easy to forget what a fantastic footballer he is.
And what a fine footballer he has been for both club and country. Rashford, 27, is well and truly out of the international picture right now but this is someone who has won 60 caps and scored 17 England goals. That ratio might not sound overly impressive but, of those 60 caps, only 24 have been starts.
Ah, they say, but he does not work hard enough. But there is still room in elite football for game-changers who are not human dynamos. Whether that will be the case at Villa under Unai Emery remains to be seen.
Whether or not the goodwill generated by the wonderful work Rashford did away from the pitch is still there in significant amounts is not clear. Like it or not, the way of the world is that people tend not to look far behind a player’s personal wealth. But Rashford was a player whose journey and talent was rightly celebrated, even beyond the boundaries of club loyalty.
And it would be nice to see him playing with a smile on his face again. Villa should not be allowed to borrow him ..
. but let’s hope they do him good. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content.
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