Barcelona are sending Marcus Rashford back to Manchester United and he will not play for them next season, according to reports in Spain this morning.
England forward Rashford, 28, was available for just a £26million fee as part of his loan agreement to Barcelona – but they are not willing to pay.
Barcelona have signed Rashford’s England team-mate Anthony Gordon for £70m from Newcastle United. The Man United star’s big wages would’ve added significant extra costs to any deal.
Marca say Gordon has been picked ahead of Rashford because of his defensive work, Rashford’s ‘weakest point’ and their four-year age gap.
Barcelona had told United they were only willing to pay half of Rashford’s suggested fee – a £13m deal – which the Premier League club would not accept.
Marcus Rashford, pictured posing for England this week, is not returning to Barcelona
Rashford was keen on staying at Barcelona beyond this summer but the feeling wasn’t mutual
Barca have also made an offer to sign Bernardo Silva on a free transfer from Manchester City, and are ready to pay Atletico Madrid in excess of £100m for Julian Alvarez to replace Robert Lewandowski at centre-forward.
The Catalans have a number of other attacking options including Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Fermin Lopez.
Rashford had preferred to return to the Nou Camp, but United will be free to do business with other clubs now and hope the player has a good World Cup with England to boost his value.
Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa, who had Rashford on loan for the second half of last season, are believed to have an interest in bringing him back to the Premier League.
Real Madrid, soon to be managed by former United boss Jose Mourinho, Bayern Munich and Chelsea may emerge as other options.
Rashford’s £315,000-a-week wages and age – he will turn 29 in October – are not in his favour. He might have to take a pay-cut or negotiate a pay-off with United to secure a permanent move away from Old Trafford, having last played for his boyhood club in December 2024.
If United cannot find Rashford a new club before he is due to start pre-season training after the World Cup, then he will return to Carrington. Last summer, the player was part of a ‘bomb squad’ that also included Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia, although it’s unclear how United would handle the situation again.
It would appear to be in the best interests of both parties to avoid that scenario even though, ironically, United are in the market for a left winger.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana finds himself in a similar position after a season on loan at Trabzonspor which ended with him helping the club to win the Turkish Cup.
Onana has no future at United after being replaced by Senne Lammens, who was voted as the Premier League’s signing of the season on Monday, but is ready to return for pre-season next month if his future is unresolved.
Trabzonspor would like to keep him and another loan is a possibility. United would prefer a sale but are unlikely to get any more than half of the £47.2m Onana cost from Inter Milan after quoting Monaco £30m for him last summer.
