 "Manchester United academy product Marcus Rashford is set to represent a club other than the 'Red Devils' for the first time in his career this month. Image credit: X/@AVFCOfficial")
Things have been far from ideal for Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford in recent years, which in turn has resulted in his brand value going through a bit of a freefall. The United Academy product had been on a decline in the last couple of seasons, as a result of which he wasn’t part of Gareth Southgate’s England team that finished runners-up at the Euro for a second consecutive edition last year.
It was only a matter of time before the 27-year-old, who was once an indispensable part of the United as well as English attack, lost his place in one of the most celebrated clubs of them all. Rashford has fallen out of favour with new ‘Red Devils’ boss Ruben Amorim, and had not represented the 20-time English top-flight champions since getting benched for the ‘Manchester Derby’ on 15 December.
Also Read | United eyeing major rebuild in summer after underwhelming January transfer window
Thanks to his sharp decline in form, Rashford has also lost out on sponsorship deals with Burberry, Levi’s and Beats parting ways with the English football star, according to The Mirror.
What’s more, Rashford is set for a pay cut, but not what he earns as wages from the club. Thanks to his loan move to Aston Villa , his lucrative sponsorship deal with American sportswear giant Nike is set to be downgraded to a lower band, which will cost him 50 per cent of what he was earning from the deal while wearing the iconic red jersey.
Villa, however, have agreed to pay a majority of his lavish £325,000-per-week wages that United had been paying him for the remainder of the season, which could be up to 90 per cent if Unai Emery’s side go the distance in the UEFA Champions League, where they directly qualified for the Round of 16 ahead of defending European champions Real Madrid and English champions Manchester City.
Seven-time English First-Division champions Villa will also have the option to sign Rashford permanently on a £40 million deal at the end of the season should the forward prove to be a good fit in their lineup.
Also Read | Explained: Why United did not sign a striker in January transfer window
United, meanwhile, will have freed up a substantial part of their budget for the summer by parting ways with the forward who has been part of their senior team since January 2016, giving Amorim more room to sign players some big names in the summer and plug the gaps that have been plaguing them this season.