Manchester United’s on loan striker Marcus Rashford has work to do to convince everybody on the FC Barcelona board.
Rashford finally gets his move
After Aston Villa failed to reach an agreement with Rashford to permanently sign the striker, his future was left in limbo.
The 27-year-old always prioritised a move to Barcelona but any deal was complicated with the Catalans’ interest in Nico Williams and Luis Diaz.
Ultimately, both of those deals fell through and Rashford got his chance at the weekend when it was confirmed that United had struck a loan deal for the player.
The England international has passed his medical and will have a “Lamine Yamal style presentation” to adoring fans later on today in the city.
Rashford has work to do
The winger will be delighted to have finally gotten his move with no future at United under Ruben Amorim.
Nonetheless, it has already been reported that not everybody at Barcelona is on the same page regarding the player.
The move did receive the greenlight from manager Hansi Flick but there are doubters in high up positions at the Camp Nou.
According to Catalan paper Sport, “Flick has been one of the biggest supporters of the deal, as he has always considered Rashford to be a difference maker and a Barça player.”
Deco doubts
Barcelona’s sporting director, Deco, “didn’t consider him a first choice for the winger” however, and needed to be convinced over the signing.
He only came round to the idea when it was clear that Luis Diaz was off the table as Barcelona cannot compete with Bayern Munich financially.
Flick has warned Rashford in a phone conversation last Thursday that “he has to earn a starting spot and, most importantly, he has to sacrifice himself for the team by significantly improving his defensive approach.”
Sport claim that “Barça’s doubts about Rashford centre on Rashford’s defensive indifference. At both United and Aston Villa, he has always had a lot of freedom of movement and a certain freedom not to defend. He is not a player who tends to go for defensive duels, nor does he work too hard in that area, focusing only on scoring goals.”
Feature image Dan Istitene via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
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.
