'Here we go': Aston Villa set to beat Arsenal and West Ham to 'expensive' 87-goal Premier League bagsman

Aston Villa are set to beat Arsenal and West Ham to the signing of wantaway Manchester United star Marcus Rashford as the Midlands outfit moves forward with negotiations ahead of Deadline Day.

Sky Sports reports that the Villains are 'close to agreeing a loan deal' with the Red Devils for Rashford. Unai Emery's side are set to cover a 'significant portion' of Rashford's wages in a deal that transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has labelled 'expensive' and 'difficult'. Taking to social media platform X on Saturday, Romano wrote: "Marcus Rashford to Aston Villa, here we go! Deal done for a loan move until June and buy option also included.

“Formal proposal accepted, for Rashford at Villa valid until June. Medical being booked then deal set to be signed this week.”

Aston Villa making moves for Manchester United striker

The Aston Villa move comes as a result of Jhon Duran completing a transfer to Saudi Arabian outfit Al Nassr for a reported £64 million. That has left Emery short of firepower for the back end of the season.

Meanwhile, Ollie Watkins has become a top target for Arsenal in the final days of the window. The Gunners were reported to have had a £45 million bid rejected by their top flight rivals.

Mikel Arteta is in the market for attacking reinforcements following injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka. West Ham are in a similar position with £27 million man Niclas Fullkrug on the treatment table.

Both those London sides had been linked with a move for Rashford this month. The 27-year-old has been frozen out under Ruben Amorim with the Red Devils manager being outspoken in his criticism for the winger's attitude.

Rashford has not been in a Premier League squad for the last five matches and his last league minutes came at the start of December. The England international was playing regularly under Erik ten Hag but has not impressed Amorim since his appointment at Old Trafford. Several clubs across Europe have been linked with a January transfer swoop for the forward.

Wayne Rooney speaks to Rashford over future

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney this week admitted that he had been speaking to Rashford about his future with some choice words for the talisman. Red Devils boss Amorim doubled down on comments that Rashford had not been training hard enough following the 1-0 victory over Fulham on Sunday evening. Reacting to the idea of a lack of commitment, Rooney said on The Overlap: "I was surprised when this started over two years ago, I was surprised then, now I’m not.

"I’ve spoken to Marcus a couple of times, I’ve given him my thoughts, my opinion, I’ve said you need to leave the football club. Because whatever is going on in his life, whatever is going on at Manchester United, he’s not the same, it’s not him, so I said for him to have a fresh start he needs to leave the club. But I agree with Roy, the fact the manager has come out saying you’re not training right is crazy.

"When I asked Alex Ferguson to leave the club, I still come in and trained every single day, worked every single day, and Fergie outed me about two months after I asked to leave. So managers do it at the right time as well when they need to get rid of a player, I got injured, Scholesey took me out, and then that was Fergie’s chance to come out and have a go at me and bring it all to the table. I think with Marcus it’s been going on for two years and it’s sad, it’s really sad."

In other news, this is how the Arsenal starting XI could look at the end of the window if rumours come true and a £110 million attacking duo join.