Marcus Rashford told to sack agent as new Aston Villa and Man United leaks emerge
Aston Villa are reeling from having been knocked out of two competitions in quick succession, but must quickly get back on the horse of the Premier League.
The Villans will be left without a trophy having been comprehensively beaten by Crystal Palace in the weekend’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley (26 April), after coming so close yet so far against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Unai Emery’s side are among five battling it out for three realistic remaining places to dine at the top European table once again in 2025-26, and have four fixtures left in which to achieve it – while not in their hands.
It now looks, too, that they will have to manage without Marcus Rashford, who missed the semi-final with a hamstring injury and is unlikely to be fit for the rest of his loan spell at Villa Park (David Ornstein, 28 April).
Rashford urged by expert to ditch entourage amid future talk
Aston Villa have not ruled out a permanent deal for Rashford, whose future at parent club Manchester United is commonly in the spotlight with no certainty.
Rashford is regularly linked with a move away of some sort and TV commentator Ian Darke has laid into his entourage, from whom stories often seem to originate.
Darke, speaking exclusively to Villa News, believes the opportunity offered to Rashford in January by the Villans is worthy of far more appreciation than appears to be the case from the people surrounding the 27-year-old.
He made no bones about urging Rashford to reconsider those he holds close with career matters, and admitted the restored England forward’s jaw-dropping wages are the only real benefit his representatives have brought his way.
“The concern about Rashford is that links and leaks always seem to be plotted about what he wants, the ambitions he has, whatever it might be. I’ve read about him going to Barcelona – where does he get in that team? So I think the best thing to do is get his head down, to be honest,” Darke explained.
“Say nothing and see what happens in the summer. Should there be noises made from his end about any other club while Aston Villa have given him a chance to resurrect his career? I’d say he needs to get rid of the entourage around him, because other than the wages he pulls in, they haven’t done a lot for him.
“Rashford needs to just be quiet and be grateful to Aston Villa for the chance they’ve given him, and enabling him to get back in the England squad.”
Aston Villa set to rely on Ollie Watkins again
With Emery having made some brazen calls for some of the biggest games of Aston Villa’s season, opting for Rashford over Watkins, that choice has now been snatched from the head coach.
Watkins will be playing with the fire in his belly he already demonstrated, and could be the man to fire Champions League football back to Villa Park.
| POS | Premier League table | PLD | PTS | GD |
| 3 | Newcastle | 34 | 62 | +21 |
| 4 | Man City | 34 | 61 | +23 |
| 5 | Nott’m Forest | 33 | 60 | +19 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 34 | 60 | +14 |
| 7 | ASTON VILLA | 34 | 57 | +5 |
For Rashford, the future remains as uncertain as it did back in the winter window, and there will be a plethora of factors to come into play before his summer decision is made.