OFFICIAL: Rashford COMPLETES Aston Villa loan with view to permanent transfer

MARCUS RASHFORD has completed his loan to Aston Villa until the end of the season.

The Manchester United forward, 27, agreed the temporary switch after falling out of favour under Ruben Amorim.

And Villa will have the option to BUY the Red Devils academy graduate come the end of the season.

It's understood they will have to shell out a cool £40million should they wish to permanently acquire his services.

Villa's deal to bring Rashford to the Midlands has seen them take on a major financial outlay.

The Villans are understood to be paying the majority of Rashford's whopping £325,000-a-week wages - which he's unlikely to get should he permanently move to Villa park in the summer.

Despite three goals in Amorim's manager's first two Premier League games, Rashford has not featured for his boyhood club since December 12.

A public bashing from Amorim has included the Portuguese chief saying he would rather put his 63- year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vita on the pitch instead of "a player who doesn’t give the maximum every day".

Now, though, Rashford has sealed his short-term escape out of Old Trafford.

The loan switch comes after Aston Villa sold Jhon Duran to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr for £64million.

Rashford is keen to get his career back on track after a difficult few years under both Erik ten Hag and now Amorim.

And the chance to play in the Champions League again will undoubtedly appeal.

Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco and AC Milan were all linked with the United academy graduate - although his mammoth £325,000-a-week wages proved an issue.

But now Rashford is staying put in the Premier League at Villa after the two clubs thrashed out a deal.

After the blistering start, Rashford and the manager's relationship soured when Amorim was told the striker had been out on a Friday night - less than 48 hours before the Everton game.

He called the forward in for a meeting where Rashford denied the allegations - and they have not patched up their differences.

Rashford then angered Amorim further by publicly revealing he is "ready for a new challenge" away from Old Trafford.

The player reckons he has received unfair treatment - and there are thoughts there may have been orders from the top.

A source told The Sun: “Marcus thinks Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants him out of the club and has basically told head coach Ruben Amorim to get him out.

“He might just have met his match with Sir Jim.

"Marcus feels like he is being picked on.

“In the early days of training under Amorim, he was trying to learn new systems and other players were also struggling — but he was the one who was getting more vocal criticism.

“He knows he needs to leave but he’s shocked that no big team has pulled out all the stops to get him.

"There’s been interest but financially it’s a complicated deal and that’s put quite a few teams off.

“Marcus has been left bewildered by how quickly his relationship with Amorim has disintegrated.”

Ex-United stars Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes all weighed in on the Rashford debate before his loan was confirmed.

Ferdinand suggested the player could look to sue Amorim for his comments while Rooney and Scholes both laid into the forward.

Rooney said: "I went into Carrington on Sunday to take my kids to game day and Marcus Rashford was out on the training pitch with the fitness coach.

"But he was right over towards where the parents were walking past for the kids' games.

"I looked at him thinking how embarrassing it must be for him as parents walked past. He's there and all the parents are walking past him.

"I was surprised when this started over two years ago, but now I'm not.

"I've spoken to Marcus a couple of times and I've given him my thoughts and feelings that he needs to leave the football club.

"Because whatever is going on in his life and at Manchester United, he's not the same.

"For him to have a fresh start, he needs to leave the club."

Scholes added: "I think Marcus has let a lot of people down with his attitude and I think that's what the manager is trying to say.

"You think of the young players coming through the team and think of [Alejandro] Garnacho.

"They're looking up to people like Marcus now and he's 27, he's clearly not training properly, he's not living his life properly. They're the examples these people should look at.

"In a way, he's saying he doesn't want to be involved with the team and the fact of letting his teammates down, he should be banished from the dressing room.

"If he’s in and around that and young people are seeing that as an example, the sooner he’s gone the better.”