Aston Villa could land a proven Marcus Rashford upgrade who’s younger and eager to play for Unai Emery

Unai Emery still needs to strengthen his squad in the summer transfer market, with a winger to replace Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford seemingly high on the Aston Villa manager’s wishlist.

PSR-struck Aston Villa have been relatively quiet in the transfer window so far, at least when it comes to big-name signings. Unai Emery has added Asin Ozcan (from Kasimpasa), Zepiqueno Redmond (from Feyenoord), and Marco Bizot (from Brest), but there are still several gaps that need filling.

One of them is the void left by Marcus Rashford, who is now Barcelona-bound, with the Villans opting against triggering their £40m buy option for the Manchester United star.

Manchester City FC v Aston Villa FC - Premier League

Photo by Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images

However, they may have found the perfect replacement – and potentially an upgrade – from the exact same club.

Alejandro Garnacho wants to play under Unai Emery

TBR Football exclusively revealed Alejandro Garnacho wants an Aston Villa move on Sunday evening, with the Argentine wanting out of Old Trafford this summer.

But he also wants to stay in the Premier League, which leaves options for the 21-year-old few and far between. Step forward, Aston Villa.

It’s said that Garnacho is excited about the prospect of working with Emery, and the feeling would most likely be mutual.

The Villa boss notoriously gets the best out of youngsters, and Garnacho would be no different.

Alejandro Garnacho prior to Manchester United's friendly match vs Hong Kong
Photo by Thomas Tang/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

That being said, if statistics are anything to go by, Garnacho is an immediate Rashford improvement anyway.

Alejandro Garnacho is a Marcus Rashford upgrade for Aston Villa

If you look at the past few seasons, despite Rashford being significantly more experienced than Garnacho, the Argentine has outperformed him in both campaigns.

Season Player Appearances Goals Assists
2024/25 Garnacho 58 11 10
Rashford 41 11 9
2023/24 Garnacho 50 10 7
Rashford 43 8 6
Total Garnacho 108 21 17
Rashford 84 19 15

Granted, Rashford has played fewer games, but given Garnacho’s age, this is still mightily impressive.

Villa should be all over the unsettled Manchester United star, and may be able to negotiate a bargain price with the Red Devils. That said, they’ll have to bat off Tottenham and Chelsea along the way.

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