According to reports, Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has put FC Barcelona ‘top of his wishlist’ with a January transfer on the cards.

Rashford is available this month with Man Utd owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe keen on shifting the academy graduate.

The England international is reportedly available for £50million, though the Red Devils are also open to loaning him out.

Plenty of clubs have been linked with Rashford in recent weeks and a transfer to Saudi Arabia should not be ruled out.

With his future incredibly uncertain, Rashford’s top priority has been revealed.

Marcus Rashford to Barcelona? Man Utd outcast’s ‘dream transfer’ confirmed

According to talkSPORT, Barcelona is Rashford’s ‘dream transfer move’ and are now ‘top of his wishlist’ after being put up for sale by Man Utd.

Unfortunately for the England attacker, a ‘January transfer appears unlikely’ due to the club’s financial situation.

Barcelona are unable to register summer signing Dani Olmo due to La Liga’s salary rules, so they are hardly in a position to go out and buy or even loan Rashford.

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TalkSPORT transfer expert Alex Crook provided an update on Rashford’s future on Thursday morning. He said: “Rashford would want to join Barcelona over any team. But they can’t register new players.

“My understanding is that his preferred destination would be Spain and therefore Barcelona, potentially, could be one of the clubs that he would be interested in signing for.”

It was reported earlier this week by The Sun that Rashford has been speaking to an agency to help secure an Old Trafford exit. The 27-year-old was quick to quash that report with a post on social media.

He said: “Been a lot of false stories written over the past few weeks but this is getting ridiculous – never met with any agency and don’t have any plans to…”

Crook has boldly said that his representatives have been in contact with agencies in recent weeks.

“I think he has linked up several (agencies) including Stellar to negotiate a move away,” he said.

“He has been represented by his brother, Dwaine Maynard, I think if there is any move, whoever does the deal, Maynard is certainly going to want to be a big part of that.

“Stellar is one of the biggest agencies in the country. So while Rashford himself may have not spoken to Stellar, I have had it on good authority that people acting on his behalf have had those conversations.”

Crook continued: “I wonder if he partly regrets that now. I’ve been told he isn’t particularly keen on Saudi Arabia.

“I’m not sure there’d be many Premier League clubs queuing up to take Rashford.

“I do know Stellar have a close relationship with Tottenham so maybe that could be one to keep an eye on.

“Spain I think would appeal to him, but we all know about the financial crisis Barcelona is in. It’s a really difficult situation, we’re all concerned.

“Coming out and doing that interview with Henry Winter, he hasn’t helped Man United in terms of the negotiating position.”

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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has reportedly told the club ‘he cannot wait until the summer’ to sign Viktor Gyokeres, but the man himself has dismissed any fanciful talk of a January switch.

Gyokeres exclusively told A Bola – who made him their first foreign Person of the Year – that he was determined to end the season with Sporting and win more trophies.

He was the top scorer across Europe’s top leagues in 2024 – beating Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane among others – and is obviously a summer target for big clubs across Europe.

Would he hop from a second championship fight with Sporting, who are level at the top of their league, for a team who are 14th in the Premier League table? It seems unlikely.

“Of course we want to win the championship twice, that’s our goal. But we’re in other competitions too and we want to go as far as possible in all of them. We’re in all the competitions and we want to continue like this,” he told A Bola.

“What are my wishes for 2025? We’ll see, but we need to win the games and see how far we can go..”

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They do admit that he was ‘elusive’ when asked about his future beyond this season, but say it is ‘unlikely’ that Gyokeres will leave in January, when his price tag remains north of £80m.

There is also the small matter of Manchester United having nothing to spend in January, when there is ‘no budget’ for additions despite their terrible form.

That does suggest that the Daily Star’s back-page exclusive that Ruben Amorim is demanding Gyokeres now is little more than an attempt to fill a back page after a quiet bank holiday.

Amorim himself seems to be under no illusions about his January issues, saying: “We don’t have that possibility in January. You know the situation better than I [do]. It’s not the case I am not arriving here and I can spend a lot of money, changing all the team. You know the situation so it’s not a point to talk about it.”

He also made it clear when he left Sporting that he would not return for any of their players mid-season, and that was before United were plunged into a possible relegation battle.

Manchester United will be fearing relegation to the Championship as they linger in 14th place, just seven points ahead of Ipswich in the bottom three.

United have entered the turn of the year in their lowest league position since 1989: a year where they finished in 11th. On current form, the Reds would be lucky to finish that high.

The numbers do not make good reading from a United point of view. And numbers seem to be what co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is most interested in with job cuts and cost cutting measures being implemented across the board.

If Ratcliffe’s side is not careful however, that method could quickly be implemented on them by manufacturing giants Adidas, who make United’s shirts.

They signed a 10-year extension with Adidas in July 2023, in a deal seeing the German sportswear brand pay United £90m per season, blitzing the previous deal which saw Adidas pay United £75m per campaign.

The current deal is the highest ever a manufacturer have paid a club in Premier League history, but that could quickly turn sour with reports understanding Adidas will be within their rights to scrap their contract with one full season’s notice should the club be relegated.

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In addition, Adidas could also halve their payments to the club, reducing the deal to £45m per season should they decide to continue with the deal if United go down to the Championship.

Going down still feels like a far-fetched idea for a club of United’s magnitude, with their lowest ever Premier League finish coming last season when they ended the campaign in eighth under Erik ten Hag.

United were last relegated from the old First Division in 1974 though they did immediately bounce back, but no such guarantees would be able to be placed on the current team.

The side lacks quality across the pitch, with goalscoring arguably their most difficult task as the recent signings of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee continue to be questioned.

It doesn’t get much easier for Ruben Amorim this weekend as he faces a trip to league leaders Liverpool, who will be determined to stamp their authority on the league so early on.

United last won at Anfield in January 2017 under Louis van Gaal when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the game. Even a smash and grab this weekend seems a far cry with United not possessing anyone near the level of Rooney in the current squad.

Manchester United are said to be ‘unwilling to drop their asking price’ of around £50-60m for Marcus Rashford.

Transfer expert Rudy Galetti has told TEAMtalk that ‘the Red Devils are open to evaluating offers’ for both Rashford and unwanted striker Joshua Zirkzee ‘but are unwilling to drop their asking prices for the pair’.

But the good news for Rashford is that both PSG and Borussia Dortmund are both still interested in Rashford, despite suggestions to the contrary.

There’s no talk of his ‘dream club’ Barcelona being interested, but that does feel a little like a pipe dream.

Last month, Rashford said: “If I know that a situation is already bad I’m not going to make it worse. I’ve seen how other players have left in the past and I don’t want to be that person.

“When I leave I’ll make a statement and it will be from me.

“When I leave it’s going to be ‘no hard feelings’. You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United. That’s me as a person.

“For me, personally, I think I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps.”

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It seems that Manchester United agree and are more than happy to sell him in January, though they will not let him go on the cheap.

There is also some suggestion that they will not allow him to leave a Premier League club, with Newcastle United among those said to be interested.

Ex-Scotland striker Ally McCoist says: “I really hope that Marcus Rashford’s next club will be PSG. I would be so disappointed if he transferred to the Saudi league or the MLS. He can do that in the years to come. Right now, he should be in the peak of his powers – and it’s not too late for him to reach the top.

“I think Paris would be a good fit for Marcus. There’s a good chance he’d be granted more freedom, and the team would cater to his style of play in comparison to Man Utd.

“I wouldn’t mind him going to Italy either; there’s a great selection of clubs he can potentially look at. It’ll also give him comfort to see other English players go there and compete in Serie A.

“Rashford’s next choice of club is of paramount importance in order to progress in his career. He absolutely has to get that decision right – no doubt.

“It’s looks to me that the relationship between Rashford and Manchester United has come to an end. If that’s the case, they should both shake hands amicably and go their separate ways. Then, Rashford must crack on because he owes it to himself and his thousands of fans in order to avoid being remembered as ‘one season wonder’ or only having a good 18-month stint.”

Liverpool have long been linked with Fulham left-back Antonee Robinson, but the Reds are said to have ‘minimal’ interest for one reason.

Robinson has been the stand-out left-back in the Premier League this season and has logged seven assists.

With Andy Robertson’s career on the descent, Liverpool – who top the Premier League table – are being linked with an alternative.

Despite persistent links with Robinson, it has emerged in recent days that United are far more interested in a player who would cost around £40m.

It is said that Ruben Amorim believes Robinson – as impressive going forward as he is in defence – would be a perfect fit for his 3-4-2-1 formation.

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They are far more likely to make a move for the 27-year-old Robinson than Liverpool, with Mark Ogden of ESPN saying: “So, Robinson’s name has been attached to Liverpool quite a bit. But I’ve been told on more than one occasion that Liverpool have minimal interest in Robinson.

“It’s not because they don’t think he’s a good player. “It’s more the fact that he’s 27. He’s not their age profile. Liverpool don’t sign players for the long-term who are 27-years-old.

“The name that has been put to me is Milos Kerkez at Bournemouth. He would fit the profile much better than Antonee Robinson.”

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy certainly agrees, saying: “If I had to choose I’d go Alphonso Davies. I think he’s got the potential to be one of the best left-backs in the world.

“Obviously Alphonso Davies is a difficult one because he’s rumoured to be going elsewhere.

“I think one of the other two (Antonee Robinson and Milos Kerkez) would be really good competition for Robertson and again with the amount of games they play, it’s not like they wouldn’t be getting game time.

“I really like Robinson at Fulham. I’ve watched him a lot and I think he’s a powerhouse of a left-back and he doesn’t really fit the criteria in terms of age, value for selling on later if that was the case for Liverpool to go for a player of that age.

“Kerkez is a bit younger. Another great overlapping full-back who could learn from Robertson and maybe get minutes in other competitions. So that would probably be more realistic.

“What we know about the Liverpool recruitment team is that they are really good at finding diamonds in the rough. People who we don’t always hear of or who are not obvious choices but then become established players. The names mentioned are terrific players and I do think Robertson needs competition.”