Rashford’s dream move to Barcelona in flames as club hone in on two younger, cheaper options – report

Manchester United sent Marcus Rashford out on loan last summer to FC Barcelona. Form at FC Barcelona The Englishman adapted to life quickly in the Catalan capital and began to provide assists and score regularly at the start of his loan. He currently has 10 goals and 13 assists in 38 matches this season in all competitions. Nonetheless, his influence on the team has waned since the December break, and he has been reduced to more of a back-up role. This is evident in the fact that he has not scored in seven matches since the end of January’s fixture against Elche. Transfer in doubt The English attacker has made it clear that he wants to stay in Barcelona, and it seemed that the club was also keen on this idea. Barcelona have an agreement in place allowing them to sign the forward for €30 million. There were reports suggesting that Barcelona were, in fact, happy to carry out this transaction, but there have also been reports that they will try to reduce the cost of the deal. Reports in Spain have suggested that Barcelona may now, in fact, be looking at cheaper alternatives to the England international. The report suggests that Barcelona are “aware that paying the €30 million price tag for Marcus Rashford won’t be easy, so they have begun to consider bringing back a couple of players who would be much cheaper.” Barcelona do not have the funds secured yet to commit to spending the money on the United man, and the deal is also dependent on current President Joan Laporta being re-elected. While the club is in the process of trying to figure out the Rashford deal, they are reportedly keeping an eye on two cheaper alternatives: Moroccan Ez Abde at Real Betis and Catalan Jan Virgili, who is at Real Mallorca. Both players are former Barcelona players, with the club retaining 20% of Abde’s rights and a massive 50% of Virgili’s. The report finishes with, “signing either of these two players would allow Barça to save money and concentrate its efforts on signing a new centre forward, a position that could be weakened if Robert Lewandowski’s departure is finalised.” Marcus Rashford 25/26 season stats Games playedGoalsAssists Mins played 3810132095 Source: transfermarkt.com Featured image Mike Hewitt via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.