Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford starred for Aston Villa as they fell just short of victory against PSG in the Champions League
Sport Jack Flintham 18:58, 17 Apr 2025Updated 20:23, 17 Apr 2025
Marcus Rashford is reportedly not set to return to Manchester United despite Wayne Rooney insisting the winger wants to play for the club again.
On Tuesday night, Rashford starred for Aston Villa as they fell just short in their Champions League quarter-final against PSG in the West Midlands. The winger left United under a cloud in January after falling out with Ruben Amorim.
Since moving to Villa, the 27-year-old has managed to score three goals and grab six assists for the club leading to calls for him to return to Old Trafford. Speaking on Amazon Prime, Rooney insisted that Rashford would want to return to his boyhood club.
"Marcus Rashford wants to play for Manchester United, 100 per cent," Rooney said. "He is a Manchester lad, Manchester United fan, and over the last couple of years it has been difficult.
"He needed to play and it was clear he wouldn't play for the rest of the season at United. In an ideal world he would like to leave a legacy at United.
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"Whether that is possible I don't know, but this is what I’d love to see." Referring to Rooney's quotes in a Q&A, The Athletic's David Ornstein insisted that the situation surrounding Rashford and United has not changed.
"At the time of his exit, I would have said there was little chance of Rashford playing for Manchester United again - based on the conversations we were having then," he explained. "We’ve no reason to think that has changed, other than his strong performances at Aston Villa."
Ornstein also insisted that while Rooney's comments were interesting, 'no player wants to play where he is not wanted.' Before his exit in January, Rashford was dropped from the squad for the December trip to Manchester City.
Days later, Rashford told Henry Winter that he would be open to a new challenge away from Old Trafford. The winger would appear on the bench again for the defeat to Newcastle at Old Trafford but he was an unused substitute.
Following the victory over Fulham, Amorim told reporters at Craven Cottage that he would rather play goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital ahead of a player who did not wish to assert himself in training. It was widely believed this was a dig at Rashford but United insisted that this was a general statement.
MEN Sport has reported that United are expecting to part ways with at least ten players in the summer so Amorim can fund a rebuild of the squad in his image. Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony are three players seen as having the potential to be sold.
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