Marcus Rashford was told he wouldn’t get game time if he remained at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim, talkSPORT understands.
Rashford has completed a loan move to Aston Villa until the end of the season after the England international totally fell out of favour under the new Red Devils boss.
talkSPORT understands that United will get a minimum of 75 per cent of the 27-year-old’s salary, which is in excess of £350,000-a-week.
This could rise up to 90 per cent, depending on performance-based bonuses.
Villa also will have an option to make the move permanent in the summer and would cost them around £40million.
Rashford was exiled by United manager Ruben Amorim this season, not featuring in any of the last 12 games, making the bench once and being excluded from the matchday squad every other time.
It’s been a brutal situation for the forward, who will hope to get some game time at Villa Park.
The England international was one of a number of options under consideration by Villa to replace Jhon Duran, who joined Al Nassr in a whopping £65million deal on Friday.
Rashford has attracted interest from all over Europe in the January window after his struggles in Manchester this campaign.
AC Milan, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund were said to be interested, but Rashford’s wages presented a key stumbling block.
Clubs had been told they will either have to cover the majority of his salary, in excess of £350,000-a-week, or come up with a compromise deal with United.
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United were reluctant to make too big a contribution after Rashford publicly stated his desire to leave by admitting he was ‘ready for a new challenge.’
After receiving a huge fee for Duran, Villa have offered to pay a huge chunk of his wages, making the deal possible.
Chelsea’s Joao Felix and Paris Saint-Germain forward Marco Asensio were also being monitored by Villa, with sporting director Monchi confirming the club held interest in both.
However, Monchi conceded a deal for either of those targets could be difficult to pull off due to the hefty finances involved.
Rashford’s last appearance for the Red Devils was a Europa League fixture against Viktoria Plzen on December 12.
The 60-cap England international was frozen out by Red Devils boss Amorim following his admission in December he was ‘ready for a new challenge.’
Amorim was especially critical of what he believed to be a lack of effort from Rashford on the training ground.
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The United boss even claimed he would rather have Jorge Vital, his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach, on the bench over Rashford, who he said ‘doesn’t give the maximum every day’.
“Imagine a talent like Rashford, our team should be so much better with him – but he has to change,” Amorim said.
“If he changes, we are more than welcome [to include him] – and we need it. But in this moment, we have to set some standards. We are waiting for Rashford, if he wants it really bad.
“You [the media] want to make it personal, I have nothing against Marcus, but I have to make the same rules for everybody.
“We need goals, we need [players who can go] one against one, we need threat in the final third.”
Rashford’s fall from grace under Amorim represents a major contrast from how he performed early into his tenure as he scored three goals in the United boss’ first two league games in charge.
Now that he has completed his loan deal to Villa, Rashford has reiterated his desire to play football.
Writing on Instagram after the deal was confirmed, he said: “I would like to thank Manchester United and Aston Villa for making this loan deal happen.
“I was lucky to have a few clubs approach me but Aston Villa was an easy decision – I really admire the way that Aston Villa have been playing this season, and the manager’s ambitions. I just want to play football and am excited to get started.
“I wish everyone at Manchester United all the best for the rest of the season.”
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