Marcus Rashford’s time as a Manchester United player appears to be coming to an end, potentially costing the club a multi-million dollar transfer fee. The England international announced his desire to leave Old Trafford last summer and is currently on loan at Barcelona.
Barcelona are believed to have the option to make Rashford a permanent move at the end of the season for a fee of around £26 million. Earlier this week, reports emerged suggesting that Barcelona had informed Rashford and his team of their intention to make him available permanently this summer. Rashford has scored seven goals and provided 11 assists during his time with the La Liga giants, with Ruben Amorim’s departure from Old Trafford fueling speculation about his future.
Before the January transfer window opened, rumors emerged that Paris Saint-Germain were interested in signing Rashford once his loan to Barcelona ended. Reports in Spain in November claimed that PSG had the funds to sign Rashford if the opportunity presented itself.
The Ligue 1 giants are reported to have set aside £43m to sign Rashford to United this summer. United could therefore miss out on the £17m they would have received from PSG if Rashford completes his permanent move to Barcelona. Rashford expressed his desire to join Barcelona permanently in an interview with Sport last month.
“Of course, what I want is to stay at Barça,” Rashford said. “That’s the end goal, but that’s not why I train hard and do my best. The aim is to win. Barça is a huge, great club built to win titles.”
Rashford’s most recent appearance for Barcelona came as a substitute in the 5-0 win over Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup earlier this week. The England international made a cameo appearance in the second half of Barca’s 2-0 La Liga win over Espanyol a few days ago, despite being sent off at half-time.
United have already been linked with a number of new signings in the January transfer window, but the focus now will be on naming a replacement for Amorim, who left Old Trafford earlier this week. Darren Fletcher will be appointed caretaker manager, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick are likely to remain in the role until the end of the season.
