Daniel Sturridge was full of praise for Marcus Rashford after his impressive performance on Tuesday night, in spite of Aston Villa’s defeat, with Wayne Rooney insisting that the player’s mind was still on parent club Manchester United
The Premier League side came into the second leg at Villa Park 3-1 down after a brilliant display from Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital, needing a special comeback on the night.
However it was a nightmare start, with PSG racing into a 2-0 lead – and a four-goal ascendancy on aggregate – only for the hosts to fight their way back and lead 3-2, needing just a single goal to force extra-time.
But try as they might, the hosts couldn’t force an extra half hour, with the French champions booking their spot in the last-four, awaiting the winner of Arsenal’s clash with Real Madrid to find out their next opponents.
Despite an aggregate defeat, Rashford put in a strong performance, and his showing caught the eye of former Liverpool and Chelsea forward Sturridge.
‘The narrative before he came was he was not the same player. He has proven everyone wrong,’ he said. ‘There was a narrative that he is not the same player and Amorim was correct but he has shown everyone again this is who I am and how I play.
Marcus Rashford earned plenty of praise for his performance on Tuesday night for Aston Villa
Rashford picked up his sixth assists since joining Villa in January in the defeat by PSG
Daniel Sturridge claimed that the English forward has ‘proven everyone wrong’ while at Villa
‘Sometimes as a player it is down to you to show the manager, sometimes you won’t get love from a manager so you go on loan or fight to get your spot and do what the manager wants to do and he has chosen to come here and it has worked out.
‘Sometimes it goes the other way and things go really bad, but I am really proud he has come here and shown everyone once again what he is all about.’
Rashford had fallen out of favour at Manchester United under Ruben Amorim, and was sent out on loan in January.
Since doing so, though, his career has seemingly been rekindled, with a string of ever-improving performances.
To date he has six assists and three goals in 15 games for his loan club, and naturally it has raised questions over whether he would fit straight back in at United, or perhaps decide that at 27 he is ready for a change of scenery.
Ashley Young, joining Sturridge on Prime Video’s coverage of the game, suggested that Rashford could be looking to move to a club like Villa, playing in the Champions League under one of the most highly-regarded coaches in the country.
However United’s record goal scorer Wayne Rooney was adamant that Rashford eyes only for Old Trafford, and that would not be changing any time soon.
‘Marcus Rashford wants to play for Manchester United, 100 per cent,’ claimed Rooney.
‘He is a Manchester lad, Man 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.
‘He has clearly shown, sometimes you have to keep banging on the manager’s door, put them in a position where they can’t leave you out in an ideal world he would like to leave a legacy at United, whether that is possible I don’t know, but this is what I’d love to see.’
There is no denying that at the moment Villa represent a more enticing project for a player, given their general upward mobility in recent years.
While United have largely stagnated and, in the case of the current campaign at least, moved further down the table, Villa have progressed under Emery in impressive fashion.
Amorim has shown with Alejandro Garnacho that he has been willing to bring players back in from the cold should they seemingly show the right work ethic, which means the door is likely far from closed for Rashford, but it could be a big summer for him.
‘I don’t know what he plans to do, every player wants to be on the pitch and their manager to have total belief, he has been in these moments previously at United playing week out and full of life and since he joined Villa we are seeing that version again,’ Sturridge said.
‘He wasn’t himself but now he is again, playing with confidence and enjoying himself which is important. Whatever he chooses to do is up to him.
‘The future is in Man United’s hands, he is their player and he will have options if United don’t want him but as United I am looking at him and they have to work out a way to make it work.’
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