Marcus Rashford has bid farewell to his Manchester United team-mates after Aston Villa agreed a loan deal for the 27-year-old. Rashford has been seeking an exit from Old Trafford ever since he delivered a bombshell interview in the aftermath of the win over Manchester City. The attacker was left out of the squad for that game due to his performances in training. He then revealed he felt ready for a new challenge after a dreadful two years. He has not played any of United's 12 games since the win at the Etihad, though has struggled to find a new club.

Barcelona and AC Milan both ended their interest, but he has now found a new home in Villa. The Midlands side made a late move for the attacker after selling Jhon Duran to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr. With only finishing touches left to be put on the deal, Rashford has now said his goodbyes to his United team-mates, according to the Daily Mail. The England star spoke to United's players and staff on Saturday at the club's Carrington training ground after being given the green light to make his move to Birmingham.

Personal terms have been agreed, with only the final details of the deal to be ironed out. Rashford was joined in bidding farewell by Tyrell Malacia, who is set to leave United for Benfica. As Mirror Football reported earlier on Saturday, Villa officials have been busy thrashing out the loan deal, with Rashford's £315,000-a-week wages having proved a major stumbling block. But an agreement has now been reached to bring him to Villa Park.

It is highly unlikely that Villa will be smashing their pay ceiling, with Emi Martinez currently their highest-paid player. That means United will be paying Rashford to play for another club for the remainder of the season. Villa are reported to have included a clause enabling them to buy the player at a later date. Boss Unai Emery is understood to be a big fan of Rashford and has hinted his side will be busy in the closing days of the window.

"Hopefully in two or three days we can join two or three players with us," Emery said on Friday afternoon. "I am going to be very motivated to get collectively here our objective. It is not normal, at the moment, what we are doing in this transfer window. But there are different circumstances we have to accept. "There are still a few days until we close the transfer window and the club is working and we have to do something fast. It is going to be difficult joining more players with us in the next days.

"In case we are keeping the same squad and not adding players I will be confident we can compete in the Premier League and Champions League. But of course we are trying to add better, add more options to play with capacity and skill they can add.". Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.