Marcus Rashford has sealed his surprise loan move to Aston Villa, joining the Midlands club for the rest of the season.

Villa have an option to buy Rashford in the summer and will pay a minimum of 75 percent of his wages, which are over £300,000 a week, rising to a potential 90 percent, depending on bonuses. However, there is no loan fee.

The England international has not featured in United’s last 13 games, and has only been on the bench for one, with manager Ruben Amorim initially omitting him for the Manchester derby because of his performances in training.

The 27-year-old said in December he was “ready for a new challenge” and had attracted interest from AC Milan, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, among others.

But Villa made an approach for Rashford after selling top scorer Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr for £64m and proved willing to cover the majority of the England international’s wages.

He could make his debut in Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Tottenham and is also eligible to play in the Champions League for Villa, who have qualified for the last 16.

He offers an option to Ollie Watkins at centre-forward but could also play on the left flank and becomes manager Unai Emery’s third signing of this window after winger Donyell Malen and right-back Andres Garcia. In a busy month for them, Villa have also sold centre-back Diego Carlos and winger Jaden Philogene.

United, who made their first signings under Amorim at the weekend by bringing in defenders Ayden Heaven and Patrick Dorgu, have been looking to find a forward to replace Rashford, with interest in Bayern Munich’s Mathys Tel. They have also loaned Antony to Real Betis, again with no loan fee but with the majority of his wages paid.

Rashford has scored 138 goals in 426 appearances for United, finding the net seven times this season. He has three-and-a-half seasons left on the five-year deal he signed in 2023, following a career-best 30-goal campaign.

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