Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford’s move to FC Barcelona could have been ruined by an injury to FC Barcelona’s Íñigo Martínez in the Spanish Super Cup.
The Basque defender went down in the first half of the match which saw the Catalans triumph 5-2 against old rivals Real Madrid.
It had been reported that Barcelona were hoping a deal to sell Ronald Araujo to Juventus would generate the funds and space in the squad needed to sign Rashford from United.
The two clubs were slated to meet in the near future to try and thrash out a deal for the Uruguayan centre back but the medical issue for Martinez, which will see him out of action for at least eight matches, has put a spanner in the works.
Spanish newspaper AS report “the injury to Íñigo Martínez, who could miss the next eight games, has put the Uruguayan centre-back’s (Araujo) transfer to Juventus on hold.”
It “should be remembered that Araújo has an offer from Juventus on the table to leave this January, but the club has always been very reluctant to accept a proposal that is not higher than €50 million.”
“The Turin club had the support of Araújo himself, who was willing to leave the Catalan club, as he did not agree with the amounts offered to him for a renewal of his current deal at Barcelona.”
Nonetheless, the unexpected injury to Martinez has seen Barca left short in defence and “Ronald Araújo’s future could take an unexpected turn in the next few hours.”
Without the lucrative sale of Araujo, it is difficult to see how Barcelona can sensibly generate the funds or comply with the 1:1 rule in Spanish football which would need to see a player leave before they brought Rashford in.
Nonetheless, the United forward has been linked to a move to Serie A with AC Milan seen as the big favourites in Italy but with Juventus now unable to spend the money on Araujo, their priorities could well change again.
The Old Lady have been linked with a move to Rashford in the last few months and they could conceivably turn their attention to him once more.
United will be hoping to conclude a deal soon for Rashford as it seems clear he is no longer part of Ruben Amorim’s plans moving forward and the club will surely want to make their own moves with less than three weeks of the window remaining.
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
