- Marcus Rashford handed Aston Villa shirt number
- Forward on loan from Manchester United until summer
- The bar hasn't been set high by previous wearers
Marcus Rashford will finish the season wearing Aston Villa's number nine shirt recently vacated by Jhon Duran following completion of his loan from Manchester United.
Rashford has spoken of his desire to "play football" after falling horribly out of favour with Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford, having failed to impress the United head coach in training.
The 27-year-old, who has also revealed Villa's ambition to have been a motivating factor in the move, represents a calculated gamble for Unai Emery’s side.
On his day, Rashford is a top Premier League calibre forward, but he hasn't performed consistently for 18 months and Villa are liable for 75% of his wages. He and they will be hoping a fresh start, even if only the next few months is mapped, will help the player return to his past form.
Rashford has never previously worn the number nine in singularity at senior level. He had 39 on his back when he made a sudden breakthrough with Manchester United in 2016, trading down to 19 a few months later in his first full season as a first-team player.
Rashford then took over the club's number 10 shirt from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2018 and had occupied it ever since. His shirt numbers with England over the years have tended to be 10 or 11, or higher substitute numbers deeper into the squad.
History of Aston Villa's No.9 shirt (post-1993)
Since fixed squad numbers became a permanent fixture in English football from 1993 onwards, Villa's number nine shirt has had a mixed history to say the least.
