FC Barcelona are hoping that the sale of FC Porto’s Nico Gonzalez to Manchester City will give them the funds to finalise Marcus Rashford’s move from Old Trafford.
The Catalans have been heavily interested in the United forward this month but have been so far unable to get the right financial combination to make a concrete move for the 27 year old.
It has been reported that the potential sale of Eric Garcia or Ansu Fati could be enough to free up the required financial space but neither deal has come to pass.
Barça have raised some revenue with the sale of academy product Unai Hernandez to Saudi Arabia but they will need more to afford a deal for Rashford.
It was reported yesterday that Aston Villa are aiming to jump the queue and get a deal done for Rashford as they know United are keen on completing a deal for Mathys Tel.
Catalan newspaper Sport has now reported that Barca have some hope that they can generate enough money for Rashford from an “unexpected” source.
“The sale of Nico to Manchester City would allow Barça to get a good chunk of money and increase the salary margin needed to secure the loan of Marcus Rashford before the market closes on February 3.”
“Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have shown interest in Nico González, a midfielder trained at La Masia and who was transferred to Porto in July 2023.”
The deal was settled for €8.5 million, but Barça kept a buy-back option and the percentage of a future sale which is a sizeable 40%.
Negotiations have reportedly already begun between Porto and City and the director of the Portuguese club will only sell for a “significant sum of money”.
Gonzalez’s release clause is a hefty €60 million, so 40% of something close to this would be an immense amount to put towards Rashford’s wages or even a summer transfer.
With the Englishman still nowhere near the matchday squad, a move away seems the most productive outcome for player, manager and club as United aim to go deep in both the Europa League and FA Cup in 2025.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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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.
