A gamble worth taking: Chelsea deal shows Arsenal can turn their season around with Marcus Rashford move

Marcus Rashford’s days at Manchester United are surely numbered – something that would have seemed unthinkable a year or so ago, but could this be a major transfer market opportunity for Arsenal?

The England international was left out of Ruben Amorim’s matchday squad for the Manchester Derby at the weekend, and he’s now come out and said publicly that he’s ready for a new challenge away from Old Trafford.

Although my fellow writer Charles Watts doesn’t think Rashford will join Arsenal, or that it would be a gamble worth taking, I take a different view – the success of Jadon Sancho at Chelsea shows that this could be a gamble that majorly pays off.

Sancho was invisible for pretty much his entire time at Man Utd, but has quickly turned his form around under the guidance of Enzo Maresca in a far more well-functioning Chelsea team. Even if he had his moments back on loan at Borussia Dortmund last season, it’s fair to say most Chelsea fans probably wouldn’t have picked him out as an essential summer signing given how badly he’d flopped in the Premier League.

At his best, Rashford is probably the superior footballer, and certainly far more proven in the Premier League, while Arsenal are also probably still a better team than Chelsea overall, even if the Blues are performing above expectations for the time being.

Rashford is far from the only top class player to struggle at the circus that is the modern Man United, so why would Arsenal fans write him off?

Marcus Rashford is just what Arsenal need – he could save the Gunners’ season

Arsenal are not quite out of the title race just yet, but back-to-back draws with Fulham and Everton have exposed what many have long suspected is a weakness in Mikel Arteta’s side – a lack of spark in attack, whether that’s wide on the left or in the centre-forward role.

Rashford can play both positions to a very high standard. On his day, he’s a 25-plus-goal-a-season player, which is surely more than Kai Havertz or Gabriel Jesus will ever be, while he can also terrorise full-backs from out wide in a way that Martinelli hasn’t done for months.

As things stand, Arsenal are struggling to break teams down because there’s just no Plan B if things aren’t clicking between Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka on that right-hand side. Adding Rashford into the mix would bring more balance and could potentially make this team unbeatable.

It’s not like Arsenal aren’t still dominating possession and creating chances, but there are times over the course of a long season that you’ll need someone who can provide a moment of magic to break down defensively stubborn teams who are happy to play for a point.

Rashford has shown that he can be that player time and time again in his career – how often have we seen him dance his way past defenders from the left hand side before unleashing powerful and precise finishes into the corner?

Marcus Rashford goals for Man United in all competitions

Of course, it’s not happened for the 27-year-old in the last year or more now, and that is a concern, but Sancho has shown that a recover after life at Old Trafford is possible. As, in fairness, did others like Angel Di Maria and Romelu Lukaku, and even arguably Paul Pogba before his doping ban.

Signing cast-offs from your rivals is always a bit of a risk, and Arsenal fans might point to Raheem Sterling as the perfect example of this, but he’s older and competing more for a place on the right flank, where he’s surely never likely to get much of a look-in due to the presence of Saka.

Rashford could still have two or three of his best years ahead of him, and just looks like someone in need of a change of scenery after an entire career spent at a turbulent United with frequently changing managers and players, and one crisis after another.

Arsenal can surely turn things around for Rashford, and he can do the same for them. Are Arteta and co. brave enough to roll the dice on this deal this January?