The Man Utd & Aston Villa swap deal that could break the internet - and annoy Arsenal in the process

Manchester United are reportedly looking at a swap deal which would see long-serving forward Marcus Rashford leave Old Trafford on a permanent basis in a direct exchange which would see Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins move in the opposite direction away from Villa Park, as per reports from the Daily Star.

Rashford left United for the West Midlands in January on a six-month loan deal until the end of the season. He had been the subject of outside interest from Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund among others during one of the longest running sagas of the winter window, but only Villa after the sale of Jhon Duran were willing to pay the majority of the forward’s reported £350,000 per week wages.

The 27-year-old, who mainly played as a winger in a front three during his time at United has scored four times and registered six assists in 17 appearances in an Aston Villa shirt and has been able to successfully rejuvenate his England career after picking up his first caps since March 2024 during Thomas Tuchel’s opening international games against Albania and Latvia this year.

Rashford has shown signs of the form which made him such a favourite at Old Trafford during Erik ten Hag’s first season in 2022/23 when he got 30 across all competitions while scoring in the League Cup final - and his form has been so impressive that in recent weeks he’s even leapfrogged Ollie Watkins as the first choice striker in a number of key games including against Paris Saint-Germain on Champions League quarter-final night.

Jamie Carragher hints at Ollie Watkins Aston Villa exit

Ollie Watkins returned to the goals during Aston Villa’s thumping 4-1 win over European hopefuls Newcastle United at Villa Park.

He took less than a minute to open the scoring in that contest and subsequently became the club’s joint all-time leading goalscorer in the Premier League era alongside Gabriel Agbonlahor. However, despite his Man of the Match performance, he was dropped the following game as Villa fell to a 2-1 defeat against Manchester City, with his replacement Rashford scoring from the penalty spot.

After the victory over Newcastle, a frustrated Watkins said, via Sky Sports: "Champions League, we've put in a lot of hard graft in the last few years to get to that position.

"I played 20 minutes against PSG in both games, so I'm not going to lie - I was fuming I wasn't playing. I let him (Emery) know that. He's the manager at the end of the day. I respect his decision. But I'm not one of the players happy to sit on the bench."

He added: "It's something I haven't experienced before and then to miss out on the biggest stage, you always want to play, especially in the Champions League.

"Me and a few others are disappointed we didn't start the game but like I said, it's the manager's decision. We did end up beating them but obviously not across both legs. The team played really well but I wanted to be out on the pitch much longer. I wanted to be starting in the important games because I've played a big part to get to where we are today."

Could Ollie Watkins leave Aston Villa?

Ollie Watkins has been a revelation for Aston Villa since arriving from Brentford in 2020 for a club-record £33m. He’s scored 10+ goals in every season in the West Midlands and has found the net 86 times in 216 games while also contributing an impressive 41 assists.Watkins has shown no signs of slowing down at 29-years-of-age and has 16 goals and 13 assists in 49 outings this term, including 15 in the Premier League.

However, he’s been subject to reports linking him with a move to Arsenal in January - and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher suggests it was infact Villa that were pushing for his departure before a sudden change of heart when Jhon Duran left.

He told The Overlap: “When we talk about Arsenal going for Ollie Watkins, someone told me that Aston Villa offered him to Arsenal - I know that," said Carragher. "I don’t think it was Arsenal phoning Villa saying they want to sign him.

"Arsenal didn’t sign him because they didn’t offer a lot of money. They offered around £50 million. However, this is the information I had. If I know that then I’m sure his agent knows that.

“Villa have spent a lot of money, and they need to get something back. In an ideal world, you probably would sell Ollie Watkins and keep Jhon Duran because he is the younger player – he is only 21.”

Of course, Watkins could still move to Arsenal in the summer, with the club not yet any closer to resolving their striker crisis.However, the Red Devils, who are another club in a striker crisis, could look to use the situation to their advantage by offering Rashford to the club in exchange for Watkins.

It would give Villa a player they rate highly for less than the reported £40m while also solving a potential problem in the dressing room between Watkins and Emery. Meanwhile, it would give United, the striker that they need to fire them up the table - and end the saga surrounding Amorim and Watkins’ strained relationship.

Of course, this would largely be a dream scenario from a United perspective and there’s every chance that Villa would look to keep both on board to boost their squad depth for potentially another European campaign. But it could be one to keep a close eye on particularly if Watkins is pushing for a move away from Villa Park - especially if United manage Champions League qualification by winning the Europa League and Villa miss out by finishing in sixth place or lower as the battle for Europe intensifies.

Read More: The bold £63m Man United transfer gamble that could take Amorim's side to the next level