Arne Slot shares suprise Marcus Rashford prediction at Aston Villa
After a difficult time over recent seasons, Marcus Rashford’s move to Aston Villa has been labelled by many as a make-or-break in his career.
The 27-year-old joined the West Midlands outfit on loan on Deadline Day from Manchester United and made his first appearance for his new side in a 2-1 FA Cup win against Tottenham.
With the Villans hosting league leaders Liverpool on Wednesday (19 February), Arne Slot has made a surprise prediction in the West Midlands already.
Arne Slot backs Marcus Rashford to revive his career
While it is clear that Rashford has plenty of talent which he has shown over several seasons, due to difficult circumstances at Manchester United, expectations have been set for him to prove himself.
Many are waiting to cast their verdict on the forward after his spell at Villa Park across the next few months under Unai Emery.
However, for his loan club, there was no reason not to sanction the move. Given they lost the services of Jhon Duran who made the move to Al-Nassr, reinforcements were only going to help.
If the move does not work out, Rashford will find himself at a loss in the summer transfer window, so it’s certainly in his interests to perform to the best of his abilities in Claret and Blue.
With this in mind, the forward will have been pleased with what Slot had to say about him in his pre-match press conference ahead of Aston Villa against Liverpool.
Slot said (18 February): “The first time I faced Marcus Rashford in real life was on our pre-season tour in the USA, I was really impressed how fast he is. He has a nice height and is comfortable with the ball.
“I hope for him he is going to show that at Villa but of course I am not hoping he does it against us.
“I will be completely surprised if a player of this quality doesn’t show it in the upcoming months because he is a very good player.”
Marcus Rashford can use Arne Slot praise as motivation
Rashford isn’t deluded and certainly won’t take these comments as a signal that he could be signed by Liverpool any time soon.
However, the fact that a top manager who currently looks to be guiding his side to a Premier League title identifies talent in the forward and backs him to succeed will surely make him keen to prove him right and show those who doubt him what he can do.
In his first two performances for Villa, the 27-year-old has certainly looked much better than he did in many recent performances for the Red Devils which suggests that this change of scenery may be exactly what Rashford needed to rejuvenate himself.
Emery has done well in unleashing the best out of other players in his squad during his time at Villa Park and the pair will no doubt be excited to work with one another and make this work.
Should Rashford get back to his best, there’s no reason why his future can’t look much brighter, similar to how it once did even if that is away from Villa Park.