The simple truth is if Rashford sticks to his guns over his wages – and his United contract does not run out until 2028, very few clubs in the world could afford him.
It means United have to offer an incentive to negotiate a sale, through a reduced fee or offering to pay a portion of his wages or both.
United sources previously said Villa would end up covering between 75% and 90% of Rashford’s salary depending on performances.
Villa reportedly turned down a £60m bid for their England forward Ollie Watkins from Arsenal in January and Emery subsequently picked Rashford ahead of Watkins for the club’s biggest games.
Rashford had harboured hopes of a move to Barcelona in January but no deal materialised. Ideally, he would prefer to play for a club who are in the Champions League next season. It is not clear whether Liverpool or Manchester City would be interested, or whether the player would be prepared to join United’s fiercest rivals.
In addition, it is not certain whether Rashford would be inclined to stay at United should they lose next week’s Europa League final, and with Amorim’s future coming under more severe scrutiny than is currently the case.
Either way, another loan deal rather than a straight transfer cannot be ruled out.
An obvious comparison is Joao Felix, who became the fifth most expensive player in history when he joined Atletico Madrid from Benfica for 126m euros (£113m) in 2019, but then fell out with coach Diego Simeone and spent 18 months on loan, first at Chelsea, then Barcelona.
Portugal forward Felix joined Chelsea permanently for £45m last summer as England midfielder Conor Gallagher went the other way.
Despite signing a seven-year contract with the Blues, the 25-year-old started just three Premier League games before joining AC Milan on loan in February.
