Marcus Rashford poised to link up with Aston Villa superstar 'nobody mentions'

Marcus Rashford will thrive at Aston Villa under Unai Emery, says former player Alan McInally, who claims Boubacar Kamara has become a "superstar" at Villa Park after working with the Spaniard.

Rashford's move to Villa was one of the biggest deals of the January transfer window as the Manchester United forward finally sealed his exit from Old Trafford on loan after falling out of Ruben Amorim's plans.

The England star was one of four high-profile arrivals at Villa, including Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund, Marco Asensio from PSG and Axel Disasi from Chelsea.

McInally - who played 59 times for Villa in the 1980s - feels the presence of Emery will help get the best out of Rashford and the rest of Villa's new signings - pointing out the superb performances of Kamara, who "no one mentions is a superstar".

Speaking alongside Sam Allardyce on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy podcast, he said: "Unai Emery has got the same reputation as Sam. He brings in players, then makes them better. The clubs become better, and the teams become better.

"They’ve done that with the likes of Morgan Rogers, who, incidentally, people forget he's only been there a year. He was at Man City and they bought him from Middlesbrough and cost us around £15 million.

"They also bought Boubacar Kamara, who nobody mentions is a superstar, he gets in any Premier League team. With the injuries at the moment he’s played centre-back, full-back, but his best place is the middle of the park.

Image: Getty Images) Getty Images)

"So I wonder how much influence Emery will need to be to get Rashford to be that player that everybody wants again."

Kamara missed the first part of the season after recovering from a torn ACL last year has started 12 games for Villa this season, but since his comeback in late October he has started all 23 games the club have played.

His combative displays in midfield were key to Villa qualifying for the Champions League last season, and in December, Emery discussed his huge progression at the club and said he had not looked back since recovering from injury.

"When we arrived here, the first months we were working with him, he was not really settled here like he was playing in Marseille," he told Sky Sports. "But progressively he was improving, he was feeling better and comfortable with the ball, without the ball.

"When he got injured last year, I think he was in his best moment in his progression here. But his comeback has really been strong. Of course, he was a very important player before his injury and now he's coming again, being a very important player for us."

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