For the second season in a row, a Manchester United first-team player has escaped from Old Trafford in the January transfer window to try their luck in the Champions League knockout rounds.

Jadon Sancho went all the way to the Wembley final with Borussia Dortmund last season. It would be quite some story if Marcus Rashford did the same with Aston Villa, having secured a loan move to Villa Park for the rest of the season.

Sancho started the 2023/24 season as part of Erik ten Hag's first-team squad, as Rashford did in 2024/25. The latter scored the first goal of the Ruben Amorim era before being quickly discarded by the head coach.

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Both players left in mid-season because two different managers felt their standards in training weren't up to scratch. That in itself is a damning indictment of the culture around the football club.

Sancho departed a struggling team and started to rediscover some form back in familiar surroundings. It would be an exaggeration to say he was back to his best, and he probably still hasn't hit those standards, but his performance in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Paris St-Germain was undoubtedly eye-catching.

As Dortmund continued progressing through that competition, United began seeing the move as more successful. It triggered extra payments and meant by the end that his salary was close to being covered in full, but there was also something incongruous about a first-team player at United playing Champions League football long after his teammates had been dumped out of the competition.

That will happen again this season. United remain in the Europa League, but Rashford has swapped that competition for Europe's top tier, and he's traded in the team in 13th in the Premier League for one sitting eighth and eight points better off than United.

United will recoup 75% of Rashford's wages, potentially rising to 90% if Villa enjoy success in the second half of the season. The deal also includes an option that could see the move become permanent in the summer.

It already feels inevitable that the 27-year-old will find his feet at Villa Park and start impressing again. His level had dropped alarmingly at United and his effort and lifestyle was the final straw for Amorim, but there is clearly talent there. United had given up hope on trying to harness it and they can't be blamed for that, but two years ago Rashford hit 30 goals in all competitions.

Villa will benefit if a change of surroundings does relight the fire under the forward, and you can be sure that United will again be criticised and mocked for letting the deal happen. Amorim was asked on Sunday whether it would be humiliating if he goes and starts scoring for his new club.

"It’s not embarrassing. When you loan a player you expect him to play and to improve, so there is nothing humiliating there," he said.

"I understand the question but I am just focused on my players, that’s all. When the window closes, I will be really focused on just our team and to improve our team."

In truth, it is Rashford who should be criticised for allowing his standards to slip at his boyhood club. It is a miserable ending to a club career that promised so much.

The issue for United is that Rashford is one of the most natural goalscorers in the squad on his day. If he starts finding the back of the net elsewhere while Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund continue to toil, then it will not be a good look.

But at least the club have practice in forcing those smiles on when that happens. Sancho reached the Champions League final as an on-loan United player last season, but there wasn't a single mention of it on the club's social media channels. Given how Amorim has ostracised him, Rashford can probably expect the same treatment.