Marcus Rashford is closing in on joining Aston Villa on loan from Manchester United, talkSPORT understands.
There is optimism from all sides of the negotiations that a deal can be done before Monday night’s deadline.
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Villa will make a large contribution to Rashford‘s wages while performance-based bonuses can move that higher.
Discussions over a buy option are also ongoing.
The 27-year-old forward has been exiled by United manager Ruben Amorim this season, not featuring in any of the last 12 games.
Now, it seems Villa are going to swoop in to sign him and provide him with a way out to play regular football again.
He has attracted interest from all over Europe in the January window after his struggles in Manchester this campaign.
Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund were said to be interested, but it seems he’ll be staying in the Premier League.
Rashford was one of a number of options under consideration by Villa to replace Jhon Duran who joined Al Nassr on Friday.
Chelsea’s Joao Felix and Paris Saint-Germain forward Marco Asensio are also being monitored by Villa, with sporting director Monchi confirming the club are interested in both.
However, Monchi conceded a deal for either of those targets could be difficult to pull off due to the hefty finances involved.
And it now seems Rashford is going to be the one who joins instead.
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A deal has not progressed so far for the United forward as interested clubs were understood to be put off by the club’s insistence they would need to cover the majority of his £350,000-a-week salary.
But after receiving a huge fee for Duran, Villa must now believe they can afford to cover some of his wages.
Rashford’s last appearance for the Red Devils was a Europa League fixture against Viktoria Plzen on December 12.
The 60-cap England international has been frozen out by Red Devils boss Amorim following his admission in December he was ‘ready for a new challenge.’
Amorim has been especially critical of what he believed to be a lack of effort from Rashford on the training ground.
The United boss even claimed he would rather have Jorge Vital, his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach, on the bench over Rashford, who he said ‘doesn’t give the maximum every day’.
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“Imagine a talent like Rashford, our team should be so much better with him – but he has to change,” Amorim said.
“If he changes, we are more than welcome [to include him] – and we need it. But in this moment we have to set some standards. We are waiting for Rashford, if he wants it really bad.
“You [the media] want to make it personal, I have nothing against Marcus, but I have to make the same rules for everybody.
“We need goals, we need [players who can go] one against one, we need threat in the final third.”
Rashford’s fall from grace under Amorim represents a major contrast from how he performed early into his tenure as he scored three goals in the United boss’ first two league games in charge.
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But with Rashford’s future at Old Trafford now looking rather bleak, Red Devils legend Wayne Rooney believes the forward desperately needs a fresh start.
“I’ve spoken to Marcus a couple of times and I’ve given him my thoughts and feelings that he needs to leave the football club because whatever is going on in his life and at Manchester United, he’s not the same,” Rooney said on the Stick To Football podcast.
“For him to have a fresh start, he needs to leave the club. The fact that your manager is coming out and saying that you’re not training right is crazy.”
Villa have until 11pm on Monday to complete the move for Rashford as that is when the Premier League’s January window slams shut.
They face a trip to Wolves on Saturday at 5:30pm, meaning all of Emery’s focus will be on that game for now.
However, after that, the Spaniard can spend two days going all out to try and get Rashford’s loan over the line.
