
Barcelona is making significant progress in its pursuit of Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford. The Catalan club has submitted a proposal through intermediaries for a season-long loan arrangement that includes a purchase option.
The 27-year-old England international is receptive to the potential transfer, with Manchester United also showing willingness to proceed with the deal. While negotiations have not yet reached completion, discussions between all parties involved have entered their final phases.
Barcelona’s interest stems from their search for versatile attacking options capable of operating across the front line and in wide positions. The club identified the left wing as a priority area for reinforcement after experiencing limited depth in that position during the latter stages of last season.
Head coach Hansi Flick has directly communicated with Rashford and endorsed his potential arrival at the Camp Nou. The loan structure would provide Barcelona with financial flexibility as they continue managing their challenging economic circumstances.
Rashford spent the second half of the 2024-25 season on loan at Aston Villa, contributing four goals across 17 appearances under Unai Emery’s management. His campaign concluded prematurely due to a hamstring injury sustained in April, which caused him to miss the final four matches and resulted in his exclusion from Thomas Tuchel’s recent England squad for fixtures against Andorra and Senegal.
Currently among Manchester United’s highest earners at over ยฃ325,000 weekly, Rashford saw Villa cover three-quarters of his wages plus performance bonuses during his loan spell. Previous reports indicated his preference for a Barcelona move, with sporting director Deco maintaining regular contact regarding the forward’s situation. His representative, brother Dwaine Maynard, held discussions in Barcelona during June.
Flick had expressed his desire to strengthen the wide forward positions earlier in the summer, with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha currently occupying those roles in Barcelona’s 4-3-3 formation. The club previously agreed to personal terms with Nico Williams before the Spanish international chose to remain at Athletic Club with a contract extension until 2035. Liverpool rejected Barcelona’s approach for Luis Diaz last month, maintaining the Colombian remains unavailable despite interest from Bayern Munich.
Addressing summer recruitment in May, Flick stated, “This is what we have talked about with the club. In the last matches, maybe we did not have a lot of options in that positionโฆ so we have to bring more options to the team and more quality. This is the job from Deco, it’s clear, and I will support him.”
Regarding specific targets, Flick commented, “I don’t want to speak about players which are not in my team, but of course, Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford are fantastic players. I like them, and we’ll see what happens.”
Rashford’s Manchester United involvement ceased following the Europa League match against Viktoria Plzen on December 12, after being omitted from Ruben Amorim’s squad for the Manchester City fixture on December 15. In a subsequent December interview, Rashford expressed his readiness for “a new challenge” beyond United.
While Manchester United has not definitively ruled out Rashford’s reintegration, he was among five players granted additional time to explore transfer opportunities. Despite this situation, Rashford returned to Carrington on July 8 for individual training sessions, separate from Amorim’s main squad activities.
Since his 2015 debut, the United academy graduate has recorded 426 appearances and 138 goals for the club.
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