Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has no interest in why Marcus Rashford was frozen out of the Manchester United squad, with the Spaniard saying on Friday that all he cares about is unlocking the England forward’s potential in the next few months.
New United boss Ruben Amorim had dropped Rashford last month and repeatedly refused to select him due to complaints about his work rate, saying he would rather put their goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford, a United academy graduate, eventually sought a move away for more game time and Villa signed the 27-year-old on loan until the end of the season.
“I’m very happy with him. The conversation I had with him was a very normal conversation between a player and a coach, speaking about football,” Emery told reporters ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup game against Tottenham Hotspur.
“The only thing I want from him is the best football… His capacity and potential is still being a huge potential to exploit. I don’t want to know the reason why he’s leaving Manchester (United), but I’m very happy to have him here.
“I’m very happy to try and help him to recover his performances individually and collectively. My challenge with him is a huge challenge. His challenge with us is a very exciting challenge.”
Spurs are at a low ebb after they were knocked out of the League Cup semi-finals by Liverpool on Thursday while the North London side are 14th in the Premier League.
But Emery is not taking them lightly after Ange Postecoglou’s side thrashed Villa 4-1 in November.
“Tottenham, the respect I have for them is a huge respect. They have some players injured and some doubts in the league, but they have a very good team,” Emery said.
“The coach showed his capacity in playing very good football last year and sometimes this year. We lost against them in the league match we played 4-1 and they played fantastic.
“On Sunday, I’m waiting for them, expecting from them their best performance. Yesterday we watched the match and we’re going to analyse not only yesterday but the match they played before.”
