Marcus Rashford was once hailed as Manchester United's golden boy and the social conscience of the Premier League, but the misfiring forward leaves Old Trafford for Aston Villa with his reputation tarnished after a precipitous fall from grace.
Rashford appeared to have the world at his feet when he signed a new five-year contract with United worth a reported £325 000 ($400 000) per week in July 2023.
Fresh from scoring 30 goals in the 2022/23 season, the England star appeared to be entering his prime at the age of 25.
Rashford's approval rating was sky-high on and off the pitch after his role in forcing a British government U-turn over free school meals for disadvantaged children and his fight against racism and homelessness.
The Manchester-born forward even featured on the cover of British Vogue in 2020 alongside supermodel turned mental health campaigner Adwoa Aboah as one of "The Faces of Hope".
Marcus is here 🤝 pic.twitter.com/83gxk3voU2
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 2, 2025
But the 27-year-old's drop-off in form and fallout with his boyhood club has been so dramatic that his loan move to Villa on Sunday, with an option to buy, came as little surprise.
Rashford joined United at the age of seven and emerged from the youth academy as a teenage prodigy in 2016, scoring twice on his United debut against Midtjylland and repeating the feat in his maiden Premier League appearance against Arsenal.
Aged 18, he became the youngest England player to score on his debut, against Australia.
He won the Europa League and twice won the FA Cup and League Cup, scoring 138 goals in 426 appearances for United, but has failed to fulfil his early promise.
The roots of Rashford's United exit can be traced back to December 2022.
Just back from the World Cup in Qatar on a high after scoring three times, Rashford found himself in trouble with then United manager Erik ten Hag after oversleeping and reporting late for a team meeting prior to a match at Wolves.
Dropped and chastised by Ten Hag, he came off the bench to score the winner.
Rashford was in hot water again in January 2024 after reports he had been seen in nightspots in Northern Ireland – he missed training after reporting ill and did not feature in the club's 4-2 FA Cup win over Newport.
'DISTRACTION'
As questions over his work-ethic persisted, former United captain Gary Neville, now a Sky Sports pundit, warned him to "calm down", saying: "He's going through a dip in form but it can become your personality if you're not careful".
But he endured numerous lengthy spells without a goal as Ten Hag struggled to lift United last season.
Rashford was not entirely to blame for his loss of form as a succession of managers deployed him as both a winger and a central striker, denying him the chance grow into one role.
He was left out of England's Euro 2024 squad and responded in limp fashion, managing just one goal in his first 11 league appearances this season.
A trip to New York, where he was pictured attending an NBA game during the November international break, was interpreted as further evidence that Rashford had lost focus.
He ended his barren streak by scoring the first goal of Ruben Amorim's reign after only 81 seconds at Ipswich in November.
But Amorim, who had arrived from Sporting Lisbon to replace the sacked Ten Hag, dropped a bombshell when he left Rashford out of the squad for United's win at Manchester City in mid-December, questioning his attitude and work ethic.
Days later the forward, who has not played since for United, said he was "ready for a new challenge".
Amorim has been bombarded by questions about the player ever since, but stuck to broadly the same themes.
Last week he made perhaps his strongest statement yet, saying the club's 63-year-old goalkeeping coach had a better chance of making his team than Rashford.
🗣️ “It’s an ambitious time for this club and a great opportunity for me to join the team.”
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 3, 2025
Watch Marcus’ first interview since joining the Villa 📺 pic.twitter.com/hqG6rS59yZ
Neville believes the move to Villa, who are eight points ahead of United in the Premier League and in the Champions League, will suit Rashford, saying he "had to get out of the club" after Amorim's "brutal" statements.
"There are a number of things that are in his favour at Villa," he told Sky Sports. "He's going to a far better team at this moment, he's going to a coach who's world class, which is a real opportunity for him."