Marcus Rashford is playing with freedom and joy again, according to boss Unai Emery. Rashford is relishing his football again under Emery, proving he was right to leave United for Villa on loan.

As he prepares to take on Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, Rashford boasts an impressive record of three goals and four assists since joining the Midlands club. It has been a remarkable resurgence after he had fallen completely out of favour under Ruben Amorim, who made the forward available in January. holds Rashford in high regard, lauding his professional attitude and the quality he has added to Villa. He said: "He is a good guy - humble, a very good professional, and he is really happy with his teammates.

"He is being demanding on himself and with everything we want to work on with him, with the team. He is playing free, he feels comfortable and this is the most important thing."

Crucially, Emery says he has already built a personal connection with Rashford. The Spaniard added: "We try to connect with him as a person first of all, and afterwards as a player.

"His process here is getting better, playing in two different positions. He started with us as a left-winger and now he is playing more as a striker. It's about how he can exploit his qualities as well as he can.

"There is still work to do but the most important thing is his feeling. We are seeing him smiling and it is the best news we can have. I am seeing him happy, committed to everything we are doing and now it's just about watching him play."

Emery seems to be achieving what Amorim couldn't. The United boss admitted his inability to train Rashford in the manner he desired, leading to the academy graduate's departure.

"What I say is that I couldn't [get] Marcus to see the way you're supposed to play football and to train the way I see it," Amorim confessed in February. "Sometimes, one player excels under one coach, while the same player may struggle under another.

"I just wish the best to Rashford and Unai Emery, and they can connect because he's a very good player. Let's focus on the case, the case was some of the guys don't adapt the way I see football, the other guys adapt, and we are trying to build the team."