Wayne Rooney makes bold Marcus Rashford Man Utd claim | OneFootball

Wayne Rooney insists that Marcus Rashford, who was outstanding in Aston Villa's 3-2 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, remains focused on resurrecting his Manchester United career.

Rashford started as Villa's central striker ahead of Ollie Watkins for the crunch second leg tie with PSG at Villa Park and was in electrifying form as the Ligue 1 giants threw away a 2-0 lead to scrape into the semi-finals 5-4 on aggregate.

It was the latest in a string of impressive showings from Rashford, who has reminded supporters that he's capable of starring on both flanks in what's turning out to be a productive loan spell.

Villa have the option to sign Rashford permanently for a fee of £40m, but the 27-year-old must also agree that his Man Utd career is fully over having fallen out of favour under Ruben Amorim.

But Rooney, speaking as a pundit for Amazon Prime's Champions League coverage, is confident Rashford's aim is to return to Old Trafford.

"Marcus Rashford wants to play for Manchester United, 100%," Rooney said. "He is a Manchester lad, Man Utd fan, and over the last couple of years it has been difficult. He needed to play and it was clear he wouldn't play for the rest of the season at United.

Ruben Amorim's relationship with Marcus Rashford deteriorated quickly / Justin Setterfield/GettyImages

"He has clearly shown, sometimes you have to keep banging on the manager's door, put them in a position where they can't leave you out in an ideal world he would like to leave a legacy at United, whether that is possible I don't know, but this is what I'd love to see."

Rashford's renaissance was also praised by former Liverpool and England forward Daniel Sturridge. "The narrative before he came was he was not the same player. He has proven everyone wrong," he remarked. "There was a narrative that he is not the same player and Amorim was correct but he has shown everyone again this is who I am and how I play.

"Sometimes as a player it is down to you to show the manager, sometimes you won't get love from a manager so you go on loan or fight to get your spot and do what the manager wants to do and he has chosen to come here and it has worked out.

'Sometimes it goes the other way and things go really bad, but I am really proud he has come here and shown everyone once again what he is all about."