Rashford wants Champions League football but will not rush move decision

Marcus Rashford will decide his future no earlier than mid-June, with his preference being to leave Manchester United for Champions League club, though the forward does not wish to join a London team.

His camp have also ruled out an exchange with any player who may be of interest to United, such as Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, owing to the complexities of those deals.

Rashford was loaned to Villa in January after a fallout with Ruben Amorim and is unlikely to play for United again while the Portuguese is the head coach.

Rashford is content at Villa, where he has a positive relationship with the squad and Unai Emery, the manager. The 27-year-old has impressed there, scoring four goals and making six assists in 17 appearances, his latest strike a penalty in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester City. Villa have an option to buy Rashford for £40m, subject to the player wanting to join and agreeing terms.

Rashford’s representatives will wait until mid-June for discussions regarding his future. United are intent he should depart after the breakdown in the relationship and with money from his sale needed to help their summer transfer strategy. If Rashford is sold to a club other than Villa his fee could be higher.

The Wolves forward Matheus Cunha and Liam Delap, Ipswich’s No 9, are Amorim’s prime targets. Rashford earns about £365,000 a week and has three years on his contract, so his transfer would release about £56m in saved salary.

Villa are outside the Champions League places after losing on Tuesday at Manchester City, who went third thanks to Matheus Nunes’s 94th-minute winner. Nunes is conscious of the importance of Champions League qualification.

“This is our Premier League trophy now, to qualify for the Champions League,” he said. “It’s massively important for us, in terms of everything, the club, in terms of the players. We cannot describe how incredible it’s going to be in the Champions League, because now we cannot fight for the Premier League trophy.”

Nunes again impressed at right-back against Villa despite this not being his natural position. “It’s not easy, especially because my whole career I played as a No 8, No 10 sometimes,” he said. “So I’m adapting. Every game I’m thinking I’m feeling even more comfortable. So hopefully I can improve even more.”

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