Matt Maher: Marcus Rashford is a bold signing for Aston Villa and not without risk
Marcus Rashford is Villa’s highest-profile player signing since Philippe Coutinho.
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Not since the Brazilian walked through the doors three years ago has a new arrival been the subject of so much attention.
Just like Coutinho, Rashford has joined on loan with the option of making the deal permanent in the summer. Just like Coutinho, Villa will be paying a healthy chunk of Rashford’s salary, their initial contribution believed close to £250,000-a-week.
Unai Emery will hope that is where the comparisons end.
The failures of Coutinho, who still has 18 months remaining on his Villa contract but has long been shipped out overseas, were a significant factor in Emery’s predecessor, Steven Gerrard, losing his job.
Having transformed Villa into a Champions League team since taking the reins, Emery is taking nowhere close to the same gamble in recruiting Rashford, as Gerrard did with Coutinho.
Even so, this deal still ranks near the upper end on the calculated risk scale.
