Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has suggested that Marcus Rashford is not in line for an early return to Manchester United.
The England international has contributed four goals and six assists from his 17 appearances since joining the West Midlands outfit on loan during the winter transfer window.
However, the 27-year-old missed last weekend's FA Cup semi-final versus Crystal Palace courtesy of a hamstring injury and the versatile attacker may miss the rest of the season.
Earlier this week, reports emerged which claimed that parent club Man United may request that Rashford returns to their Carrington training facilities to complete his rehabilitation.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday afternoon, Emery gave the impression that such an arrangement will not materialise.
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Emery 'hopeful' on Rashford injury
Contrary to previous suggestions that Rashford would not play again this season, the Spaniard hinted that he retains hope of using the loanee within the next 16 days.
Emery told reporters: "For tomorrow he is not available but he is working to comeback as soon as possible. But weeks until he is available. Hopefully he will play with us one or two matches."
The situation is complicated by Villa squaring off against Man United on the final day of the season. Therefore, Rashford will be ineligible for that game.
As such, that leaves him with just three fixtures left, the last and most realistic chance to feature being against Tottenham Hotspur on May 18.
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Will Villa sign Rashford?
Villa possess a £40m buy option for Rashford and the general consensus is they would like to retain his services on a permanent basis.
However, it has been alleged that Villa are not necessarily Rashford's first-choice when it comes to his preferred destination for 2025-26.
From Man United's perspective, they are left to await further developments as they look to recoup the biggest fee possible for the homegrown talent.
Darren Plant
