Although Marcus Rashford was once hailed as Manchester United’s “golden boy” and the premier league’s social conscience, the misfiring forward leaves Old Trafford for Aston Villa with his reputation ruined after a harrowing fall from grace.
Rashford appeared to have the world at his feet when he signed a new five-year contract with United worth a reported £325, 000 ($400, 000) per week in July 2023.
The England star appeared to be at his best when he was 25 years old when he scored 30 goals in the 2022/23 season.
After his efforts to get the British government to change free school meals for underprivileged children and his fight against racism and homelessness, Rashford’s approval rating was sky high both on and off the pitch.
The Manchester-born forward was even a member of “The Faces of Hope” in 2020 and Adwoa Aboah, a supermodel turned mental health activist, appeared on British Vogue’s cover in 2020.
But the 27-year-old’s drop-off in form and fallout with his boyhood club has been so dramatic that his loan move to Villa on Sunday, with an option to buy, came as little surprise.
Rashford made his United debut against Midtjylland at the age of seven, and he did so in his first Premier League game against Arsenal. He graduated from the youth academy in 2016 and made his first appearance there.
Aged 18, he became the youngest England player to score on his debut, against Australia.
He failed to fulfill his early promises, winning the Europa League and twice winning the FA Cup and League Cup, with 138 goals scored for United in 426 appearances.
The roots of Rashford’s United exit can be traced back to December 2022.
After reporting late for a team meeting prior to a game at Wolves, Rashford faced trouble with then United manager Erik ten Hag after winning the World Cup in Qatar on a high after scoring three goals.
He was dropped and chastised by Ten Hag and walked off the bench to score the winning goal.
After being rumored to have been seen in Northern Ireland’s nightclubs in January 2024, Rashford was in hot water once more. He missed training because he fell ill, and he did not play in the club’s 4-2 FA Cup win over Newport.
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‘Distraction’
As questions over his work-ethic persisted, former United captain Gary Neville, now a Sky Sports pundit, warned him to “calm down”, saying: “He’s going through a dip in form but it can become your personality if you’re not careful”.
But as Ten Hag struggled to lift United last season, he endured numerous lengthy spells without a goal.
Rashford’s slump in form was not entirely due to his successive managers’ use of him as a winger and central striker, denying him the opportunity to develop into a single role.
He was left out of England’s Euro 2024 squad and responded in limp fashion, managing just one goal in his first 11 league appearances this season.
According to some, Rashford’s recent trip to New York, where he was pictured watching an NBA game during the international break, was just further evidence that he had lost his focus.
After only 81 seconds, he scored the opener for Ruben Amorim at Ipswich in November to end his barren streak.
Amorim, who had been hired from Sporting Lisbon to replace the fired Ten Hag, dropped a bombshell when he questioned Rashford’s attitude and work ethic during United’s win at Manchester City in mid-December.
Days later the forward, who has not played since for United, said he was “ready for a new challenge”.
Since then, Amorim has been flooded with inquiries about the player, but they have mostly kept their questions to themselves.
He claimed that Rashford, the club’s 63-year-old goalkeeping coach had a better chance of making his team than Rashford, making perhaps his most powerful statement to date.
Neville believes the move to Villa, who are eight points ahead of United in the Premier League and in the Champions League, will suit Rashford, saying he “had to get out of the club” after Amorim’s “brutal” statements.
“There are a number of things that are in his favour at Villa”, he told Sky Sports. “He’s going to a far better team at this moment, he’s going to a coach who’s world-class, which is a real opportunity for him”.
