Marcus Rashford’s agent sparks Manchester City transfer rumours after recent Etihad Stadium meeting | OneFootball

The agent and brother of on-loan Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has sparked rumours of interest from Manchester City after the recent meeting with Aston Villa.

The former Premier League champions are set to undergo a significant rebuilding of their first-team squad options this summer with a number of positions due to be assessed by Manchester City’s recruitment team.

Incoming sporting director Hugo Viana is expected to take on the role from Txiki Begiristain on a full-time basis in the early weeks of the summer, having now started work at the City Football Academy following his formal exit from Sporting CP earlier this year.

And while the work to be taken on by the Portuguese official was alway due to be challenging, matters have only been further complicated by the task of sourcing a direct replacement for the outgoing Kevin De Bruyne and revitalising an underperforming City side.

A wide range of players have been linked with Manchester City interest in recent weeks including FC Porto’s Diogo Costa, Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, and Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso, however a staggering new name has now emerged much closer to home.

According to a new wide-ranging report from MailSport, the agent and brother of Marcus Rashford, Dwaine Maynard was sat near Manchester City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain and his replacement Hugo Viana at the Etihad Stadium last week.

The report reaffirmed that Rashford himself has made it clear he wants to join a UEFA Champions League club should Aston Villa decide not to make his loan from Manchester United permanent in a £40 million deal, while he is also reluctant to move to London.

However, it is stressed there is nothing at this stage to suggest the forward would consider signing for Manchester City, that Rashford is likely to figure in Pep Guardiola’s summer rebuild, or that Manchester United would entertain the thought of selling him to their rivals.

The wide attacking roles and the striker position are unlikely to be identified as priority areas to address this summer by Manchester City officials either, given the strength in such ranks and confidence in their existing options.

The likes of Jeremy Doku and Savinho are viewed as long-term mainstays in the left and right-wing roles respectively, while there is additional positional flexibility available to the club through Oscar Bobb, Omar Marmoush, Jack Grealish, and Bernardo Silva.

Grealish and Silva could yet emerge as players who could secure exits however, with the former not deemed to be totally out of the question when it comes to a permanent exit, while the Portugal international has long eyed a move back to warmer climates in Portugal or Spain.