Someone who has known Marcus Rashford for several years said they saw this coming years ago. That there was an inkling of not if, but when his Manchester United career would fall into freefall.

When Rashford settled on a "new challenge" nearly seven weeks ago, he had Barcelona in mind. He will, instead, wear a different shade of claret down the M6.

A source aware of the negotiations said Rashford rejected more prestigious clubs than Villa as he would not have to relocate. It is an easy commute for Rashford or his gopher, the former United youth-teamer RoShaun Williams. Villa players have been wont to residing in Cheshire and socialising in Manchester city centre.

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Villa were desperate and at "panic stations", according to one agent. The sizeable sale of Jhon Duran to Al Nassr for £64million paved the way for Villa and United to quickly conclude a loan for the remainder of the season.

It absolutely suits all parties. Can you name Villa's main left winger? No. Rashford will slot in there and switch to centre forward if Ollie Watkins, forced off at Wolves on Saturday, is ever unavailable.

Rashford gets to work under an excellent coach in Unai Emery and play in the Champions League knockout stage for the first time in three years. United are no longer saddled with a player whose training form was so inadequate that Ruben Amorim would have rather played his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach.

Villa are above United in the table but how the once-mighty Rashford has fallen. If he was ever to leave United, it was supposed to be Barca or Paris Saint-Germain. Not the 1996 Coca-Cola Cup winners.

There was early chatter about Arsenal. An agency source stressed that the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules mean clubs have to go beyond due dilligence when signing a player. Mikel Arteta was "never going to go near" Rashford.

Arteta had purged the Arsenal dressing room of feckless and flaky high-earners in Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Arsenal have three competitions to play for and Arteta was never going to upset the apple cart with a player who has crossed past and present United managers. Deco, the Barcelona sporting director, was "not that fussed" about signing Rashford.

Rashford's first and last appearances for his boyhood club elicited polar-opposite reactions from matchgoers. As the 18-year-old matchwinning debutant against Midtjylland, he was mobbed by fans (and academy teammate Dean Henderson) in the Old Trafford family stand. In Plzen last month, he was booed.

There was no exchange between Rashford and Amorim when he was substituted in the Czech Republic. Two days later, Rashford was told to report for training at Carrington on Sunday morning rather than prepare for the Manchester derby later that afternoon.

There was a bright red flag with the Mancunian red when Rashford refused to speak to the media during pre-season training. The presence of Erik ten Hag had deprived Rashford of a clean slate.

He was not the only one of the British contingent. Scott McTominay, Jadon Sancho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, all difficult interviewees for different reasons, dodged duties for the obvious. Mason Mount has developed an inexplicable allergy to media engagements since he left Chelsea.

Rashford was interviewed by two colleagues in San Diego a year earlier. Mid-question, he started tying his shoelaces. Then he left abruptly as one of the journalists started asking another question.

Affluence has changed Rashford. We became accustomed to saying "Marcus" in mixed zones only to draw a blank. A Carrington source is adamant Rashford barely spoke to the late receptionist Kath Phipps.

Rashford was not always this surly or aloof. A few of us feared the worst when he turned up for an interview at Carrington two years ago and left the engine on his sports car running outside. A member of staff dryly noted it was also the Premier League's Green Weekend initiative.

Those who have fleetingly crossed paths with Rashford have noticed how cold he can be. He required a couple of takes with a child for a United promo and did not interact with the kid between takes. Other players involved in the filming were described as personable.

It has been occasionally awkward speaking to parents when they reveal their United-mad kid's favourite player is Rashford. "What is he like?" is the inevitable query.

Rashford will doubtless have a more unflattering view of most of us who cover the club minutely. The irony of that aforementioned interview while his £280,000 McLaren 765 Long Tail was running is he was engaging company and signed an autograph for a colleague's daughter.

Days after United were annihilated 7-0 at Anfield, the player Ten Hag chose to flank him at the press conference previewing the Europa League tie with Real Betis was Rashford. That signalled senior status.

Yet he has not matured. That Belfast bender last year was serious enough for United to haul in Rashford's brother and representative, Dwaine Maynard, to Carrington. Maynard is not listed as a registered agent by the Football Association and has failed the Fifa agency exam twice.

Keeping it in the family has backfired. Rashford's Instagram account denied he had met with agencies ahead of the winter transger window yet multiple sources insist he did. The post had Maynard's fingerprints all over it. , who once accidentally sent a tweet intended for Rashford's Twitter account from his own,

Sources who have dealt with Rashford believe he has become too distracted and lacked adequate guidance. His mother, Melanie, wrote an op-ed in The Times last year, warning of "wolves in sheep's clothing". Her original copy was toned down by Rashford's wide-ranging team.

Plenty have latched onto Rashford as their meal ticket. He was so crestfallen after his missed penalty in the European Championship final in 2021 that he was house-ridden for days. He admitted to a confidant that hardly any friends had visited to check in on him.

Those who know Rashford say he is a good lad at heart and that he thrived with a structure. But the protection layer he once had has exposed him.

He has not always kept good company. This correspondent has a cache of abusive emails sporadically sent over a three-and-a-half year period by someone identifiably close to Rashford.

Rashford became a detached member of the United squad. His infamous body language on the pitch, which so irked matchgoers, was noticeable off it, too. He cut a lonesome figure waiting at Stockport Station for an away game at Fulham. While teammates congregated in their cliques, Rashford kept his distance.

One of Rashford's confidants mentioned his body language in an effort to galvanise him. The majority of his inner circle are not as objective, maintaining a good-vibes-only.

United used to tread on eggshells with anything Rashford-related. They were at pains to stress he had not been dropped for the away fixture at Chelsea in April even though he was the only change from the draw with Brentford five days earlier.

The club's willingness to cash-in on Rashford in the summer required additional context. It was unnecessary as Rashford was unsellable a year into a five-year, £325,000-a-week package after scraping eight goals in 43 games.

That contract was the beginning of the end of Rashford's United career. Having scored 30 goals from the left wing in 2022-23, he was disgruntled to discover Ten Hag inform him he would be playing up front during pre-season in the United States.

That carried on into the competitive season but lasted only two games. When Rashford was substituted at Tottenham, he yanked off his boot and launched it.

He was involved in all three goals in a comeback win against Nottingham Forest a week later and then scored at Arsenal. But in the fifth game, a comprehensive home defeat by Brighton, friction between Mancunian and Mancunians was audible.

The decision to appoint Caroline McAteer, an experienced PR who represented Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Mount at United, was a spectacular own goal. Ten Hag was privately appalled by that and it drove a wedge between player and club. Rashford was booed off in the FA Cup semi-final farce against Coventry City.

Plenty of hardcore United fans had vented about Rashford for a while. Those at Gdansk Airport after the 2021 Europa League final had it in for Rashford and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after United's defeat on a penalty shootout to Villarreal.

Solskjaer had run Rashford into the ground and resentment festered. Solskjaer found it more taxing managing Rashford than Paul Pogba, often agitating to leave.

United staff were duty-bound to back the manager. Ten Hag's handling of players who transgressed was nigh-on faultless and he disciplined Rashford over his ill-advised birthday party at China White on Deansgate hours after the Manchester derby defeat to City at Old Trafford.

Rashford was not papped by photographers but his car, with the 'MR' insignia plastered all over it, and the presence of familiar hangers-on, were giveaways. A source said Rashford has disguised his appearance to entered certain establishments to avoid being photographed.

The irony of Amorim's barb at Craven Cottage was that Rashford appeared the most eager to start training when the media were invited for a 15-minute open session four days earlier. Some of us were caught unawares as he hurtled past us to get on the grass to limber up via a keep-ball session.