Former Premier League striker Jermain Defoe has exclusively told Sports Mole that nobody should be surprised that Marcus Rashford has excelled on loan at Aston Villa.

Manchester United are set to take on Leicester City on Sunday afternoon, and though the Foxes come into the weekend second last in 19th place, the Red Devils are only in 15th place with 34 points after 28 matchweeks.

The club have also experienced a turbulent time off the pitch, with both boyhood fan Rashford sent out on loan to Aston Villa in the January window after he publicly announced his desire to move away from Old Trafford in December.

Rashford's relationship with fans had deteriorated, but he has since found his footing with Villa and Defoe told Sports Mole that his good form under Unai Emery should not come as a surprise, saying: "I don't think anyone would come out and say it but I don't know why everyone's surprised about Rashford, because a happy Marcus Rashford and the best version of Marcus Rashford is someone that starts for England.

"I knew that he would go to Villa and do what he's doing right now because he's a top player, he's not been happy for whatever reason. Maybe there's other stuff that's gone on, I don't know, but even with his body language you can tell that there was other stuff going on and he wasn't happy and you need to be happy when you're playing football."

Villa have a buy option of £40m in the deal they agreed with United, but regardless of whether they opt to sign Rashford permanently, it would be surprising if the 27-year-old was able to reconcile with Ruben Amorim.

Have United made a mistake letting Rashford go?

During their disastrous 2024-25 campaign, numerous stars have struggled for form at Old Trafford, particularly those in the forward line.

Attackers Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho have scored a combined eight goals in the Premier League this season, while Rashford has provided four assists in just 461 minutes of football at Villa Park.

Defoe argued that Rashford's immense talent was hindered by the weight of playing for a struggling United side, and suggested that the club's current forwards are similarly suffering, telling Sports Mole: "Pochettino always said 'if you smile, your feet smiles', and that sounds silly but it's actually true. It's just nice to see Marcus Rashford now playing at that level where you think he's getting back to his best.

"In terms of Hojlund and Zirkzee, it's been difficult for them and obviously people have come out and said, 'oh, they're not good enough' and all these different people saying 'this player's not good enough, he's not good enough, he's not good enough'. I hate to say that sometimes because I know what it's like to be there.

"Sometimes it's not fair when people come out and are harsh towards players because it's not easy, especially young players, it's not easy. There's a lot of pressure, it's a heavy shirt Man United, it's a massive football club and even now you talk about following and supporters - it's still the biggest football club to play for."

Rashford has also been recalled to the England national team for the first time since March last year, with boss Thomas Tuchel seemingly impressed by the winger's form since moving away from Old Trafford, and perhaps the player will be one of many forwards that fail to realise their potential while at the club.

When will United get back to their best?

United's struggle to get the best out of their forwards has seen the team find positive results hard to come by, and they are on track to accumulate just 46 points, which would be their lowest points total since 1978–79.

Amorim has only won five of his 17 Premier League games in charge of the club, losing on eight occasions while also failing to win consecutive top-flight matches.

Defoe expressed his belief that it could take Amorim years to get the team back to competing for major honours, and told Sports Mole that he never imagined the situation would get this bad when he said: "I do believe with this manager Amorim - at some stage they will hopefully get back to the Man United that we're used to seeing.

"This could take a good couple years and the players that are there, they're going to have to try and find some form from now to the end of the season because even sitting there talking about Man United and people talk about Man United in a relegation fight - I never, ever thought in my lifetime I'd ever be talking about that.

"I played against some of the best Man United teams growing up, I was always linked with Man United when I was younger and even when I look back on it in reflection, I always think, 'oh I would love to play for that football club', so to see them in this position now is quite strange."

The Red Devils are in the Europa League quarter-finals and would be able to qualify for the Champions League should they win the competition, but it remains to be seen if Amorim can steer the club to glory in Europe.

Jermain Defoe was speaking to Sports Mole courtesy of bet365's new Sub On, Play On product.