In a summer of sweeping changes at Old Trafford, Marcus Rashford has departed for FC Barcelona on loan.
Falling out
Despite being the golden boy under Erik ten Hag in 2022/2023, Rashford struggled in the Dutchman’s second season and took less than a month to fall out with Ruben Amorim last year.
The England international was left out of the squad to face Manchester City in December and has not played for United since.
He went out on loan to Aston Villa for the second half of the season and secured a loan move to FC Barcelona earlier in the summer.
Strong pre-season
The United academy graduate has played three games during Barcelona’s tour of Asia and he has impressed.
He grabbed his first assist against FC Seoul in his second match and then even opening his goalscoring account against FC Daegu in their last match.
Hansi Flick impressed
The German manager is said to have been one of the biggest driving forces behind Barca’s move for the Englishman and he has so far been delighted with his choice according to reports.
Spanish newspaper AS report that “the English player’s performance, highly motivated upon arriving at Barcelona, has sparked debate about whether he can be the best replacement for Lewandowski.”
Positional change
The paper states that “both the sporting directors and manager Hansi Flick assured that the Englishman was arriving to play on the left wing and give Raphinha a rest.”
The 27-year-old always seemed most at home in a United shirt on the left hand side, so naturally it was assumed this would be his position at Barcelona.
Nonetheless, “through training sessions and matches on the Asian tour, the perception has changed, and the Englishman has shown he can perform as a ‘9’.”
This could work in Rashford’s favour as starting striker Robert Lewandowski is 37-years-old and will need time to rest during what promises to be a long season for La Blaugrana.
It is mentioned that he does face competition from Ferran Torres and even Dani Olmo could play in a false nine role.
Featured image Paul Miller 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.
