Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has acknowledged the “huge challenge” of revitalizing Marcus Rashford’s career after the forward joined the club on loan from Manchester United. Rashford, who has been out of favor at United since December, will be looking to rediscover his form and confidence at Villa Park.
Emery expressed his excitement about working with Rashford and his determination to help the 27-year-old fulfill his potential.
“My challenge with him is a huge challenge. His challenge with us is exciting,” Emery said. “I don’t want to know the reason he is leaving from Manchester but I am very happy keeping him here and I am very happy to try to exploit and help him recover his performances, individually and collectively.”
Rashford has trained well this week and could be in line to make his debut for Villa against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday.
Emery also addressed the decision to leave new signings Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia out of Villa’s Champions League squad. Due to UEFA rules, the club could only register three new players for the knockout stages, with Malen and Garcia missing out.
“The rules only can register three changes,” Emery explained. “We did more changes in the transfer window than we wanted and even we lost one player more in the list because Jaden Philogene [who joined Ipswich] was a club-trained player and we lost the possibility through him to have one more.
Emery confirmed that striker Ollie Watkins will miss the Tottenham game due to a groin injury, while Chelsea loanee Axel Disasi is cup-tied.
“For him [Watkins] each day it is important how he is feeling. For Sunday he’s not going to be available because today he didn’t train and tomorrow he won’t train as well,” Emery said.
Villa are currently eighth in the Premier League and have also qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League. The addition of Rashford and their other January signings will strengthen their squad as they aim to achieve their goals for the remainder of the season.
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