Manchester United have ‘offered’ Marcus Rashford to Real Madrid as Florentino Perez ‘analyses’ his signing after new manager Xabi Alonso’s striker demand.
Rashford played the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa and his four goals and six assists under Unai Emery caught the attention of his ‘dream’ club Barcelona this summer.
Sporting director Deco confirmed the Catalans were looking at Rashford, along with Liverpool’s Luis Garcia, as possible signings, but as transfer expert Fabrizio Romano confirmed on Thursday, they now look set to sign top Arsenal target Nico Williams from Athletic Club.
He tweeted: “Nico Williams and Barça have agreed personal terms on 6 year deal!
“Agreement sealed on player’s contract until June 2031 with the salary in the region of €7/8m net per season. Barça are currently working on financial terms to get deal done with Athletic.”
That means it’s back to the drawing board for Rashford and Manchester United, who are desperate to find a buyer for the England international after Ruben Amorim told him and three further ‘bad apples’, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Jadon Sancho, that they are banned from their US tour in July and if they haven’t found a new club by then will be training alone at Carrington.
A report earlier this week claimed Rashford is looking to get around the issue of his £300,000 per week wages by ‘accepting a pay cut’ amid interest from Premier League clubs.
‘Rashford is keen to leave Man United and sources high up in the industry believe he’d now accept a pay cut to seal a move away,’ the report stated.
One of those clubs mentioned was Newcastle, who The Sun claim want to ‘rescue Rashford from his Manchester United limbo’.
‘The Magpies are ready to offer the England striker Champions League football following his Aston Villa loan.
‘And SunSport can reveal Newcastle are confident they can provide Rashford with an ideal stage to rebuild his career.’
‘It’s understood the Magpies fancy a year-long loan deal for the 62-cap star. But Old Trafford chiefs would prefer a permanent exit.’
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But the Red Devils are understandably keen to sell him abroad and Spanish outlet Defensa Central claim they have ‘approached Real Madrid to offer Rashford’, whom they want €40m [£34m] for.
With Barcelona’s financial issues paired with their greater interest in Williams, the report claims United ‘have set their sights on Real Madrid, a club with superior economic solvency, to try to ‘place’ the striker’.
It’s claimed the Madrid bosses are ‘already analyzing Rashford’s hypothetical fit in the white team’ after new boss Alonso made clear his desire for a new striker, though the Englishman ‘does not fit the profile’ as the Spaniard has asked for a ‘pure 9’ as a direct replacement for Joselu.
He wants someone ‘who can perform the functions of a killer in the area, powerful in aerial play and with tactical concepts very fixed in the position of the tip of the attack’, which doesn’t sound all that much like Rashford.
