Marcus Rashfordhas been strongly linked with a move to Barcelona
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is in danger of seeing his dream transfer to Barcelona turning to ashes after it was revealed three major concerns the Red Devils had over sanctioning the move, while sources have revealed what will likely happen next for the wantaway star.
Rashford is looking for a route out of his boyhood club after confirming his wish to leave just days after being omitted from their matchday squad at Manchester City on December 15. Having since failed to make an appearance for Manchester United in the nine matches that have followed since, the December 12 game that saw them win at Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League could prove his last-ever outing for the club.
However, after weeks of links to various suitors, together with concrete talks with both AC Milan and this week Barcelona, United and Rashford are seemingly no nearer reaching an agreement to part ways.
The Italians have closed the door on a move by instead moving for Kyle Walker, taking up their last overseas spot in their squad, leaving the 27-year-old to focus his energies on a move to his dream destination: Barcelona.
And while those chances were catapulted closer to reality this week after the LaLiga giants’ sporting director Deco held talks over the move, journalist Graeme Bailey, writing for Unitedinfocus, has revealed three major reasons why the move looks hugely problematic to pull off.
The most obvious issues, Bailey says, evolve around Barcelona’s finances, which has seen them struggle to register both Dani Olmo and Pau Victor this season. And nodding to the fact that United’s demand for a minimum coverage of 50% of the player’s wages – which equates to £162,500 per week – is already proving problematic for Barcelona to raise, he states they will likely need to big-name sale before they can fund the deal.
A second alarm bell ringing to United is that, according to Bailey, Barcelona have already insisted in the opening of those talks that they would prefer a loan option, rather than the obligation United are insisting on, included in any deal.
That concern is highlighted by the fact that Barca are well blessed with attacking options, with Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha seemingly three immovable objects in their starting line-up, leaving United to question just how many minutes Rashford will see for the LaLiga title hopefuls.
United to pull plug on Rashford move to Barca; options running out
As a result, there remains a strong chance that United will pull out of negotiations with Barcelona until they can at least confirm they can finance the deal and offer a guarantee that a permanent summer move will be on the cards.
But with Rashford having held out for Barcelona, the player will now find himself facing limited options over where to go next.
Per our sources, there remains some interest in Rashford from elsewhere on the continent after it was made clear to us, way back in November and before Rashford made his exit statement to journalist Henry Winter, that the club were pushing to offload their homegrown star in 2025.
Indeed, since then our sources have revealed interest in Rashford from Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, though neither are yet to follow up with concrete enquiries yet.
There was also talk of a move to Monaco earlier this week; the French outfit comfortably able to afford to sign Rashford on loan, though per The Sun, their offer would only be for a dry loan only.
Arsenal and Tottenham have also been linked, though the Red Devils would be loathe to sell the player to a Premier League rival and even at this stage, we’ve been informed any move to a rival will be extremely difficult to pull off for his English suitors.
As a result, it was floated earlier this week, and something that Bailey has also attested to, that Rashford could be forced to wait until the summer to secure a move and with the player ready to make himself available for Ruben Amorim once again.
Amorim himself was asked about Rashford’s ongoing absence earlier this week, to which he replied: “It is his choice (not to play).”It is his choice [not to play).
“I don’t want to focus on this bad moment because in the games we lost, Rashford is not here.
“I don’t want to put this moment on Rashford. Rashford is out because he is not playing.
“No matter what, I am not going to put out a player I don’t believe is the best for the team.”
Latest Man Utd transfer news: Napoli pull plug on Garnacho; Dorgu hope
Meanwhile, another player heavily linked with a move away – Alejandro Garnacho – also faces an interesting few days as he awaits to see how his future plays out.
Strongly linked with a move to Napoli following their sale of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to PSG, the Italians have actively been in talks with United over a potential deal and with our transfer insider Fraser Fletcher revealing they had played two ace cards to try convince the 20-year-old to make the move.
However, with United sticking rigidly to their asking price, Napoli are ready to walk away from the deal, turning their focus instead to Karim Adeyemi of Borussia Dortmund.
And that now leaves Chelsea pondering a cheeky move to try and prise the star south to Stamford Bridge amid our understanding that Garnacho prefers to remain in the Premier League.
United hope to use any transfer funds to sign a new left-sided wing-back and while their initial offer for Patrick Dorgu has been rejected by Lecce, talks over a deal for the Denmark international continue and he now looks the most likely new arrival before the closure of the January transfer window.
How Rashford would fit in at Barcelona
Analysis by Samuel Bannister
A dream destination for Rashford – which might yet still become reality – would be Barcelona.
If he has to leave the Premier League, moving to LaLiga could be the next best thing – and Barcelona would be an illustrious destination.
Again, though, they have a high-performing left-winger in their current squad. Raphinha is averaging almost a goal per game when playing on the left this season; he scored a brace from that position in the Supercopa De Espana final on January 12.
That said, unlike Rafael Leao at Milan, Raphinha isn’t so tied down to one position. The Brazil international has played on the right wing or in attacking midfield at other times this season, while his deputy on the left, Ansu Fati, is regarded as a fading talent, so there could be occasions when Rashford would be turned to in his favourite position as a different rotation option.
However, Raphinha playing on the right to accommodate Rashford would mean Lamine Yamal or Ferran Torres would likely have to drop out, and Barcelona have been insistent on not blocking the teenager’s development in particular.
If he wants to play as a striker, meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski is the man Rashford would have to displace. Unsurprisingly, his goals-to-games ratio isn’t far off one-in-one either, so he would be a big obstacle to starting opportunities.
At the age of 36, though, the Poland striker can’t necessarily play 90 minutes every week (though he pretty much did in November’s LaLiga schedule, for example). It’s likely Barcelona will be considering their options for Lewandowski’s long-term successor, but would they give that opportunity to a potential loanee like Rashford?
