Despite a fairly productive loan spell at Aston Villa last season, it has always seemed clear that there is no way back for Marcus Rashford at Manchester United, at least not with Ruben Amorim at the helm.
With the World Cup taking place next summer, it is clear that the player’s incentives would have been financial and not sporting if he was willing to sit on the bench (if that) at Old Trafford for the next year. For his own career, he had no choice but to move – and it looks like he’s done just that.
Highly regarded journalist David Ornstein of The Athletic has this afternoon reported that FC Barcelona are “advancing on [a] deal” to sign the 27-year old from United.
According to Ornstein, the move will be a loan, with the Spanish giants having an option to buy the player permanently next summer. Whilst a deal is not done, talks are at the “final stages” before completion.
As per the piece, Hansi Flick’s side have been looking for a player that can operate in wide areas and up front. It is suggested that left wing has been a priority for the club this summer, after they felt they were left short there towards the end of last season.
This would check out with the public chase of Athletic Club winger Nico Williams, who ended up staying and signing a new contract in the Basque country. As a result, attention turned to Rashford.
The six months at Villa perhaps helped the forward’s case when it came to getting his move to Catalonia. Back in January, few people would have said he could play centrally to a high level anymore. However, Unai Emery often played him as a striker, even at the expense of talisman Ollie Watkins.
This gave Rashford the platform to show he can still produce at a high level when deployed up front – particularly in the Villans Champions League quarter final against PSG, where he put in an electric performance as Villa won 3-2 on the night.
As touched on above, it is a huge year for Rashford with the World Cup next summer. He started both of Thomas Tuchel’s first two games in charge, before being ruled out with an injury for his second camp.
Most England fans would agree that the left-wing spot is up for grabs at the moment. Anthony Gordon had an underwhelming season at Newcastle United, and Jack Grealish is completely out of the picture at Manchester City. The likes of Eberechi Eze provide options, but England need an outlet off the left, which Rashford can provide.
The fit under Flick will be interesting to see. In theory, Raphinha just had the best season of his career off the left hand side, but he often played narrow and produced some of his best moments from central areas, and did play as a number ten at times.
We could see Lamine Yamal off the right, Raphinha as the number ten, Rashford off the left, with Robert Lewandowski as the striker. That would be an incredibly exciting attack to watch.
Still, Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez will be pushing hard for the number ten spot, and are both excellent players in their own right. We could see either of those playing in the ten, with a front three of Raphinha and Yamal either side of Rashford.
Sure, there is also just the possibility that the first choice attack is what it was last season, with Rashford having to bide his time on the bench. But with the sheer quantity of games played, there will be several opportunities for him to get a chance in the XI and show why he deserves to stay there.
Either way, this is a very exciting move. English (and British) players abroad is more common than ever. With Conor Gallagher at Atletico Madrid and Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold at Real Madrid, having an English international at all of the ‘big three’ in La Liga is very cool to see.
