I’m playing ‘committed’ football at Aston Villa – but could end up leaving this summer anyway

We’re barely over two months into Marcus Rashford’s spell at Aston Villa, but so far everything has come up roses. Rashford has started playing with renewed vigour, and the goals and assists have started to trickle in. He seems happy, and Villa are happy with him. But will Villa be able to sign him permanently this summer?

Unai Emery’s side have a £40m option to buy in the loan deal that sent Rashford to Villa Park in the first place, but that only guarantees that they can negotiate a contract with Rashford – and reports from France now suggest that they may have some competition for his signature…

Will Marcus Rashford join Aston Villa permanently this summer?

There’s little doubt, at this stage, that Villa would love to keep Rashford around. He’s playing with the energy and élan that was missing at Manchester United, is making an impact in the final third and has even earned a prompt recall to the England squad.

Alongside fellow loanee Asensio, Rashford has reinvigorated Aston Villa’s attack and helped them to surge into form as the home straight comes into view. Having looked as though they were losing touch with the top four, they are once more firmly in the mix for Champions League qualification, are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the quarters of the Europe’s biggest cup competition. There is still every chance of a season that will go down in club history, and Rashford has played an important part in that.

So Villa want to keep him on the books. Manchester United, for their part, have lost patience and want to sell. There is already an agreed fee. This should be straightforward, right? Not if the French media have their facts right.

A recent story from L’Equipe suggests that Paris Saint-Germain – who Villa will face this very evening in the Champions League – may have rekindled long-term interest in Rashford. If they weigh in with their wealth and profile, then Villa may have a headache.

‘Rashford to PSG’ was one of those transfer stories that spat off the rumour mill on a near-weekly basis for years without ever coming to fruition. It was Manchester United’s outgoing version of the claim that they were on the cusp of signing Wesley Sneijder for nearly a decade. But the interest was genuine.

It was former sporting director Leonardo who was perennially keen on Rashford, but for years his form was impeccable, his trajectory upwards, and he was a wildly-popular hometown hero. United had no desire or need to sell. By the time they did, his declining form ensured that PSG had no interest themselves.

But even though Leonardo has left PSG, L’Equipe’s story implies that they never forgot the reasons that they wanted Rashford in the first place – and now that he has that smile back on his face and some threat in his boots, they may make a move this summer.

Why Rashford might join PSG over Aston Villa

For all the Rashford seems to be enjoying his time in Birmingham, and for all that he no doubt appreciates Villa taking a chance on him when he was at his lowest ebb and giving him the fresh start he so plainly needed, it’s not hard to image PSG turning his head.

Partly, of course, that’s because PSG are finally playing like a team worthy of the glamorous image they have worked so hard to project since the Qatari takeover. The mega-money superstars are largely gone, replaced by a young and well-drilled team that looks to be a long way from the perennial crumblers that always find an embarrassing way to leave the Champions League – unfortunately for Villa.

Rashford will get a close-up look at his suitors on Wednesday evening. If the team which has utterly dominated Ligue 1 (an invincible season is a few games away) and which knocked Liverpool out in the last 16 play the same way that they have for much of the season, they will present Rashford with a very strong business case indeed.

Furthering that case will be the chance to move and play abroad – out of the malignant glare of a media spotlight which, from Rashford’s perspective, has largely involved an endless string of scurrilous tabloid stories and invasions into his fundamental privacy. Even if PSG do blow it all up in the Champions League again, the chance to move to a country in which he isn’t the right-wing press’ public enemy must have a certain appeal.

All of which means that Villa may have to strengthen their pitch. Qualifying for the Champions League again would help. Winning the FA Cup would be great. Beating PSG in their quarter-final would go a long way. Making the club feel like a second home may be even more important.

Emery has been generous with his praise in public, telling the media that he loved “seeing [Rashford] smiling” and “seeing him happy, committed to everything we are doing.” That won’t do any harm – but only Rashford knows whether he sees Villa as his club for the next few years.

For all that his name is hardly ever out of the tabloid headlines, he has hardly said a word to the press since moving to Villa Park. We don’t have any meaningful insight into his mental state, his opinion of the club, or his vision for his own future. Perhaps Villa are precisely what he needs – but one can see why PSG might be an exciting proposition.