Marcus Rashford could be set to lose a fortune after Aston Villa transfer due to contract clause no-one knew about

Marcus Rashford reportedly has a hidden clause in his contract which could see him lose a huge amount of money.

Rashford, 27, has penned a loan move to Aston Villa having fallen out of favour with Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.

The forward will be hoping to rekindle his career under the guidance of Villa head coach Unai Emery. It is still unclear if the England international will join the West Midlands club on a permanent basis but a £40m buy-option is reportedly included in the deal.

According to The Athletic, Villa will pay a minimum of 75 percent of Rashford's £325,000 per week salary with the amount possibly rising to 90 percent based on performance-related bonuses. United will cover the remaining amount.

But the Mail suggests the 27-year-old could be set to take a hit on his earnings from his lucrative sponsorship deal with Nike.

Similar to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland, Rashford is tied to the American sportswear manufacturer having signed a seven-year deal in 2021.

The Mail reports that Rashford could earn “more than £1.5m” per year with bonuses included although the sum can decrease to around £50,000 at the lowest end of the scale.

Players' deals with Nike are structured via categories, with a reduction in pay between each level.

Marcus Rashford has penned a loan move at Aston Villa (Credit:Getty)

The categories are thought to be based on the club a player plays for.

For example, United are considered a ‘Category A’ club while Villa are not considered to be at that level.

It is claimed that the sports brand could even be allowed to reduce Rashford’s basic wage by up to 100 percent and have the power to request a repayment of some of the signing-on fee they paid him at the height of his popularity in 2021.

The Mail even suggests that this could have been part of the reason Rashford was ‘interested’ in moving to Barcelona during the winter transfer window.

The Manchester-born forward could make his Villa debut when they take on Tottenham in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday 9 February at Villa Park.