Marcus Rashford was candid when asked about his desire to complete a move to Barcelona FC earlier this year. Asked whether he expected his temporary stay in Catalonia to become permanent, he said: “I’m not a magician, but if I were, I’d stay. We’ll see.” The Manchester United forward keeps posting three photos of himself with Barça on his Instagram profile, and you have to scroll a long way to find any mention of United.
But if Rashford still harbors hopes of returning to Barcelona this summer, he is likely to face disappointment. United have no intention of taking out another loan for the academy product and have consistently insisted they will pursue other options if Barca refuse to pay the £26m required to sign Rashford. Already refusing to pay the forward a reasonable fee, it seems unlikely that Camp Nou will be his destination if Rashford leaves United next season.
The World Cup was destined to complicate things this summer, but that didn’t stop some important deals from being made. Manchester City have completed the signing of Elliott Anderson for £116 million, with a number of other World Cup players having their club situations resolved.
However, Rashford will not be joining them. “I spoke clearly with everyone involved before the World Cup. I would have liked it (the transfer) to be done before,” he told reporters on Saturday.
“If not, I wanted you to wait until later. I want to be fully present in the moment. We are fighting for something special.”
United supporters who do not want Rashford back at the club may initially view these comments as unwelcome news for the Red Devils. If England reach the World Cup final, they will remain in North America for at least two weeks longer.
Like all players taking part in the tournament, Rashford will be given a period of rest before the start of the new season, but with the transfer window closing on September 3, United’s window for releasing Rashford suddenly looks much more limited.
However, Rashford’s decision not to commit to his future does not mean that negotiations have stopped behind the scenes.
Clubs are free to approach United regarding the forward and, in fact, the more Rashford focuses on England’s quest for World Cup success, the more likely he is to perform well and increase his market value.
There was nothing particularly groundbreaking about Rashford’s comments, and his conversation with journalists would have attracted even more attention if he had suggested he was preoccupied with United’s situation.
United want Rashford to focus on performance and if he excels in the latter stages of the competition, it will only benefit the club. The rest is up to United.
