Manchester United is in discussions with Aston Villa regarding the potential early return of Marcus Rashford due to injury.
The 27-year-old England forward sustained a hamstring injury during training last week and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks.
Aston Villa`s final match of the season is against his parent club, United, a fixture in which Rashford would not be eligible to participate.
This means his loan spell would likely conclude after the May 18 home game against Tottenham.
It appears improbable that he will recover in time for that match, effectively bringing his challenging season to an end.
Consequently, a decision will need to be made between the forward, who joined Villa on loan during the winter transfer window, and Manchester United regarding his next steps.
Rashford understands that a future at Old Trafford under manager Ruben Amorim is unlikely, so United will consider transfer offers.
He plans to hold discussions with his parent club before mid-June.
However, he might be compelled to return sooner than anticipated if the two clubs agree that his recovery within the next three weeks is not feasible.
This situation arises despite Aston Villa holding a £40 million purchase option for Rashford as part of their loan agreement with United.
Following Rashford`s hamstring issue, Villa manager Unai Emery confirmed: “He’s injured. He got injured this week and yesterday we did a test – it is his hamstring. We are going to try to test him each match but he’s injured and probably won’t be available for some weeks.”
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Rashford is reportedly undecided about his future at present and will have the final say on where he plays next season.
Nevertheless, Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim remains confident that his decision to send both Rashford and the £86 million signing Antony out on loan in January was the correct one.
Amorim commented last week: “We lack a lot of things in the team. In January we lost, and you are talking about Rashford and Antony, we lost these players. And we didn’t bring new ones, that was a risk. We are trying to do something more important.
“But I think that there are things here that are more important than to score 10 more goals this season.
“We can hurt the squad now but in the future it is going to help the club so I think we are on that path.”
