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Marcus Rashford has been criticised for choosing to miss Aston Villa’s FA Cup semi-final clash with Crystal Palace despite the 27-year-old attending a boxing event in London just hours later.
The Manchester United forward swapped Old Trafford for Villa Park at the end of the January transfer window to join the Villains on loan until the end of the season after a public dispute with Ruben Amorim.
Unai Emery played a key role in convincing Rashford to complete the move – which contains a £40 million buy-clause – with the Spanish manager believing the 27-year-old still retains the ability to be one of the most effective forwards in Europe.
And Emery has fully backed Rashford since he arrived in Birmingham, choosing to start him up front over first-choice number nine Ollie Watkins against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-final.
An unfortunate hamstring injury has since effectively ended Rashford’s season with United and Villa “in talks” over an early return to Old Trafford to complete his rehabilitation.
But it meant Rashford was unable to play in last weekend’s match at Wembley against Palace, as Villa’s disappointing end to the season continued with a comprehensive 3-0 loss.
However, rather than choosing to support his adopted side from the side lines – as would be expected from an injured player – Rashford opted to skip the semi-final and attended the major boxing event, between Chris Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn, later in the evening.
The fight took place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the ring walk for the main event was projected to be around 10:30pm – three hours after the semi-final at Wembley was concluded, giving Rashford ample time to have attended both.
Former United goalkeeper Ben Foster contends this choice is one which Emery will not have been happy with and that Villa would be able to spend £40 million “better elsewhere”.
“I don’t think he’s a £40m player for Villa,” Foster said on his Fozcast podcast. “With Marcus Rashford, comes too much of a circus. There always just seems to be too many other stories and it’s not always about football.
“There’s always something else with the boxing match and going to that but not going to the game. I just don’t think Unai Emery wants that and I don’t think he needs that. He’ll be able to spend £40m elsewhere, and I think you’ll get better results in a bigger picture by doing it that way.”
Rashford is reported to be waiting until the summer to make a decision on his future with Champions League football thought to be key in his next step, with continued interest from Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
Featured image Mike Hewitt via Getty Images
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