Euro giant’s sporting director publicly identifies United troublemaker as a target this summer – Fabrizio Romano

Barcelona sporting director Deco has publicly revealed the Catalan club’s interest in Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.

Rashford, 27, is currently on loan at Premier League rival Aston Villa after swapping Old Trafford for Villa Park at the end of the January transfer window following a public dispute with Ruben Amorim.

Rashford was dropped by the Portuguese coach for the Manchester Derby in December after issues with attitude and application in training. Alejandro Garnacho was also omitted from the squad for the same reason.

Two days later, the England international released an unauthorised interview stating his intention to leave United as he was “ready for a new challenge”. This was not well-received amongst the Old Trafford executive branch nor Amorim and his coaching staff.

After this declaration, Rashford did not play a single minute of football for United before the eventual loan move to Villa. Garnacho, by comparison, was reinstated into Amorim’s match-day squad for the next game.

The loan deal includes a £40 million buy-option, though there has been no communication from the Villans that they are preparing to trigger this.

Instead, there is an expectation at Old Trafford that Rashford will return from Birmingham at the end of the season and then push for a move abroad this summer.

Barcelona hold a long-standing interest in the 27-year-old after discussing the logistics of a loan move in January, only to be deterred by the financial package involved. Rashford is believed to consider a switch to Camp Nou as a “dream move”.

🚨 Barça director Deco on wingers: “We like Luis Diaz, we like Rashford… and we like other wingers too”.

“We can’t talk about players under contract with other clubs”. pic.twitter.com/ocYyuLTY1v

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 22, 2025

Tweet: “Barça director Deco on wingers: “We like Luis Diaz, we like Rashford… and we like other wingers too. We can’t talk about players under contract with other clubs”.

Barcelona are intent on signing a winger this summer to buttress Hansi Flick’s forward line with Deco revealing, “We like Rashford,” along with Liverpool star Luis Diaz.

The sporting director did not elaborate further on this interest in the United star, stating, “We can’t talk about players under contract with other clubs”.

But the fact the Barcelona executive chose to publicly name Rashford as a target for Blaugrana suggests this is a transfer we have not heard the last of this summer.

Featured image Stephen Pond via Getty Images

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