Marcus Rashford was right about Aston Villa – and he proved it on Barcelona debut
Marcus Rashford has spoken highly about Aston Villa since his move to Barcelona.
Rashford, 27, signed for Aston Villa last winter and went on to have a largely positive loan spell after a surprise move from Manchester United.
Alongside Marco Asensio, who came in from PSG, the loanees had a telling impact as the Villans looked vastly improved in the second half of the season under Unai Emery.
With that in mind, it did come as a blow when Rashford opted to join Barcelona ahead of Villa this summer, but it may already represent a regret for the forward.
Rashford spot on in Aston Villa examination
It was certainly a bold move for the England international to green-light a move to Camp Nou after just 17 appearances with the Villa Park club.
Regardless, it appears that Hansi Flick is keen to get the best out of Rashford at Barcelona, despite how baffling the move may be to some in B6.
With that being said, there are very few associated with the Villans who don’t want to see the forward succeed on his LaLiga journey.
This is especially after Rashford made hugely positive comments about Villa on the Rest is Football podcast (13 August).
He said: “The timing of my going to Villa was the exact time for me to do something like that. The response and reaction that I got from the people at the club and the fans it was exactly what I needed on a personal level. Without having that right period, maybe I wouldn’t be feeling how I feel now.”
As a result, it was hugely disappointing to see him struggle for Barcelona, proving that maybe he should have stayed at Aston Villa for a full season.
Rashford struggles on Barcelona debut
Playing with the likes of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha was always going to be something to get used to for the Man United loanee.
Matching that sort of quality is no mean feat, so it was little surprise to see Rashford named on the bench against Mallorca on Saturday (16 August).
With just over 20 minutes to go, the Englishman was afforded the chance to come on as a substitute with a 2-0 scoreline already in place for the Catalans.
It is fair to say that the 27-year-old did very little of note, registering just 14 touches while failing to have a single shot and registering just 0.07 expected assists for his new teammates.
| Stat | Marcus Rashford vs Mallorca |
| Minutes played | 22 |
| Accurate passes | 10 |
| Shots | 0 |
| Duels won | 0 |
| Tackles won | 0 |
There was also no defensive output from the versatile attacker, something which may not go down well with his new head coach.
Although it is early days, maybe another campaign under Emery in B6 could have proved more beneficial than a chance to be a squad option abroad.
Sign up for the Villa News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Aston Villa news sent straight to your phone.