Unai Emery is relishing the challenge of helping Marcus Rashford meet his "huge potential", as the forward prepares for his potential Aston Villa debut on Sunday.

Rashford joined Villa on a loan-to-buy deal ahead of the mid-season transfer deadline, having been frozen out of Manchester United's squad by new head coach Ruben Amorim.

Villa are reportedly paying three-quarters of Rashford's wages between now and the end of the season, when they will have the option to sign him permanently for £40million.

Rashford has scored four goals in 15 Premier League appearances this season, having netted seven times in 33 outings in 2023-24. 

Those returns have seen the England international attract plenty of criticism, having scored a career-high 17 goals as United finished third in the Premier League in 2022-23.

Emery is determined to help the 27-year-old hit those heights again, with Sunday's FA Cup tie against Tottenham potentially marking his first Villa appearance. 

"I'm very happy with the window we had, I'm very happy with him," Emery said at Friday's pre-match press conference. 

"The conversation I had with him was a very normal conversation with a player and coach, speaking about football.

"My challenge with him is a huge challenge. His challenge with us is exciting.

"I don't want to know the reason he is leaving Manchester, but I am very happy keeping him here and I am very happy to try to exploit it and help him recover his performances, individually and collectively. I think he has huge potential to exploit."

Rashford's attitude was repeatedly questioned by Amorim before he sealed his loan move. 

Last month, the former Sporting CP boss memorably said he would rather play his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital than reintegrate Rashford into his United squad.

Following Rashford's departure, Amorim then told reporters he "couldn't get Marcus to see the way you're supposed to play football". 

Emery, however, has no concerns about Rashford's discipline. 

"Today he trained fantastic, tomorrow again, Sunday is the match," Emery said. "We will enjoy each step and then the future is only building with the present.

"If we try and get the future before building the present it's impossible, if we do it, we'll crash."

Emery also confirmed that two of Villa's January additions, Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia, had been left out of the club's Champions League squad.

"It was not a good decision I had to take yesterday, but I spoke with them to tell them and argue as well my decision," said Emery.