'Absolutely ridiculous': Marcus Rashford claim as Aston Villa loanee continues to impress after Manchester United exit

Rashford, who was frozen out at United under boss Ruben Amorim who questioned his effort in training, has been a revelation since arriving at Villa Park.

He provided two match winning assists for follow new boy Marco Asensio in the recent 2-1 win over Chelsea - and also set up one of the PSG loanee's goals in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Cardiff City on Friday evening.

Rashford has been receiving praise from pundits and players for the impression he has made at Villa - since his departure from United following his manager's controversial comments in the press.

At one point, the United boss suggested he'd rather give a place on the bench to his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach instead of Rashford because of a perceived lack of effort.

Rashford is proving his United manager wrong with his displays at Villa - and he also seems to be inspiring the next generation of Villa youngsters.

Cole Brannigan, who arrived at at the club in 2023 from Linfield, has been impressing in the club's under 18 side - with the 17-year-old handed his first professional contract last summer.

He has been tipped as one for for the future - and made his maiden Premier League 2 appearance for the club's under 21s against Crystal Palace recently.

And in an interview with the Belfast News Letter, the youngster has described the moment he came up against Villa's new loanee Rashford and how he couldn't believe what he was seeing from the forward.

He explained: "We played them on the Wednesday and he (Rashford) trained...he's by far the best player I've seen technically with the ball - he was absolutely ridiculous.

“I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"We have a family group chat and I just put in 'Marcus Rashford is absolutely ridiculous'. Having Marcus Rashford at the club, he's someone for me to look up to.

"The club do a good job in asking those players questions so you try and use that to improve your own game."