Newcastle are reportedly eyeing-up a shock move for Man United outcast Marcus Rashford this summer.
Rashford, 27, has been exiled at Old Trafford, last playing for the Red Devils in December and he was loaned out to Aston Villa for the second half of the season.
The forward impressed at Villa Park, scoring four goals and adding six assists in 17 appearances in all competitions, but his future remains up in the air and he is not in Ruben Amorim’s plans.
The 27-year-old’s contract, which sees him earn £315,000-per-week, runs until 2028, and his wages could prove to be a stumbling block to any transfer.
However, according to The Sun, Newcastle are ready to move for Rashford this summer and take him out of his United limno.
The report claims that the Magpies believe they can provide the forward with an ideal platform to rebuild his career, while they would also offer him Champions League football.
Mail Sport has previously reported how Rashford’s dream move is to join Barcelona and his agent met with Deco, the Catalan giants’ sporting director, last month, but no transfer has subsequently materialised.
United value Rashford at around £40million and would like to facilitate a permanent exit, but the report goes on to add that Newcastle are keen to sign him on a loan deal.
Any money United make from a potential Rashford sale would count as pure profit in their PSR calculations.
Rashford is understood to want to play in the Champions League as the 62-cap England international aims to win a place in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad next summer.
Rashford was called up by Tuchel back in March, but he was absent from this month’s internationals after missing the final period of the season due to a hamstring injury.
The report adds that Newcastle view Rashford as an extra option to complement talisman Alexander Isak, who is expected to remain at St James’ Park this summer despite being viewed as an ideal signing for several clubs.
Meanwhile, shortly after Rashford was first excluded by Amorim for the Manchester Derby in December, he dropped the bombshell that he is ready for a ‘new challenge and the next steps.’
‘For me, personally, I think I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps,’ he told Henry Winter in an interview.
‘When I leave it’s going to be “no hard feelings”. You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United. That’s me as a person.
‘If I know that a situation is already bad I’m not going to make it worse. I’ve seen how other players have left in the past and I don’t want to be that person. When I leave I’ll make a statement and it will be from me.’
When asked if he would always be a Red at heart, Rashford – who has been at the club from the age of seven and who made his debut in 2016 – replied: ‘Yes! 100%. 100%.’
Before he departed to Villa on a deal which included a £40m option to buy, Amorim had said Rashford ‘has to change’ to win back his place and it seems unlikely that he will play for United again.
United have also already signed Matheus Cunha from Wolves this summer and are hoping to add Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo, knocking Rashford further down the pecking order at Old Trafford.
