The welcome Marcus Rashford received on his first appearance for Aston Villa showed exactly how fans feel about their club’s highest-profile signing for many years.
Rashford’s story is still to be written here and a second-half substitute appearance against a struggling Tottenham side provided few clues about how it will unfold. One thing is clear, though: between now and the end of the season, Rashford will feel the love.
When the on-loan Manchester United forward replaced Donyell Malen in the second half, Villa Park erupted.
This was the noise we usually hear when one of the 1982 European Cup-winning team appears on the pitch, or one of today’s stars returns after a long absence. Loan players are not usually treated this way yet Rashford is no ordinary loan player.
Thanks also to his campaigning work during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he fought to end child food poverty, Rashford is one of the country’s most famous footballers, his every move scrutinised accordingly.
Villa Park might be less than 100 miles from Old Trafford but compared with his exile from the United squad and the barbs from Ruben Amorim, the West Midlands must have felt like the other side of the world.
Because in signing him, Villa have made at least one of their players extremely unhappy.When Malen joined the club from Borussia Dortmund last month, part of the attraction was the chance to play in the Champions League.
Malen, who cost nearly £21million, featured for the German giants in last season’s Final, when Dortmund were beaten by Real Madrid, and was eager to go far in the competition again.
So we can only imagine Malen’s mood when he was told last week by Villa boss Unai Emery that he would not feature in Europe this season. UEFA rules permit clubs to add only three winter signings to their Champions League squads and Emery went for Rashford and fellow loan signings Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi. That left Malen and Andres Garcia as the odd men out.
Garcia has rarely played at the top level and the defender, who signed from Spanish second-tier club Levante, could have few complaints. Yet Malen, with 51 European appearances to his name, is a different kettle of fish.
Emery effectively admitted Malen was furious to be omitted but this was an early chance for the 26-year-old to show his manager the error of his ways.
With Ollie Watkins injured, Jhon Duran sold to Al-Nassr and Rashford and Asensio starting on the bench, Malen was deployed through the middle alongside Morgan Rogers.
Played by Leon Bailey in the 14th minute, Malen fired wildly over. When Rogers powered through Spurs’ empty midfield and saw his effort saved by Antonin Kinsky, Malen rushed at the loose ball and put into the North Stand again.
He was then screamed at by Youri Tielemans for trying to score from a tight angle rather than square for the Belgian, who was unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box.
Malen’s final contribution was to set up the second goal for Rogers, who is Villa’s one automatic pick in attack. It falls to Malen, Bailey, Watkins and the others to carve out a niche alongside him.
