Villa complete Rashford loan deal

Aston Villa Football Club has officially announced the loan signing of forward Marcus Rashford from Manchester United. The 27-year-old will join on loan until the end of the season, with an option to buy included in the agreement. According to sources from Manchester United, the loan terms stipulate that Aston Villa will cover at least 75% of Rashford's wages, with no loan fee required.

Rashford posted on his personal Instagram account, stating, "I thank Manchester United and Aston Villa for facilitating this loan deal. I was fortunate to receive offers from several clubs, but choosing Aston Villa was not difficult – I greatly admire their style of play this season and the manager's ambition. I just want to play football and am excited about the new journey ahead. I wish everyone at Manchester United all the best for the remainder of the season."

Previously, after being left out of the starting lineup in the Manchester derby in December, England international Rashford had stated that he was "ready for a new challenge." Additionally, Aston Villa are also close to securing a loan deal for Spanish midfielder Marco Asensio from Paris Saint-Germain. Following the team's 0-2 defeat to relegation-threatened Wolves on Saturday, manager Unai Emery expressed that the club "needs new players."

In January, Aston Villa had already signed Spanish defender Andrés García from Levante and Dutch forward Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund. However, they also sold Colombian forward Jhon Durán to Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr for £71 million and centre-back Diego Carlos to Fenerbahçe for approximately £8.45 million. Furthermore, England forward Ollie Watkins was forced off with an injury in Saturday’s game, and with Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings injured, the team had to deploy midfielder Boubacar Kamara as a makeshift centre-back.