United forced to change their stance regarding superstar with INEOS keen to avoid last summer’s nightmare scenario – report

Manchester United have been forced to make a major U-turn regarding the future of Marcus Rashford. The Mancunian shone out on loan at Barcelona, helping the Catalan giants to claim the La Liga title as he scored 14 times while registering as many assists. INEOS must have felt it was a no-brainer that Barca would trigger the Englishman’s £26 million buy option. However, the La Liga champions have been dilly-dallying for a few months now and have employed various tactics to pressurise the Red Devils into agreeing to a cut-price sale. Marcus Rashford dilemma for United Initially they requested for another loan, before demanding to pay in instalments, and now, the Camp Nou outfit are threatening to pay only half the agreed amount. Barcelona have already signed Anthony Gordon and are in talks to bring in Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez. That would all but end the England international’s dreams of staying in Spain. INEOS initially held firm and were even open to selling the United academy graduate to a different suitor who would be willing to pay more. The 28-year-old has attracted interest from multiple Premier League teams, and the 20-time English league champions would prefer not to do business with a direct rival. United forced to take U-turn With no resolution in sight, reports have been doing the rounds of the versatile attacker returning to Manchester for pre-season, a scenario Michael Carrick will be keen to avoid. This is why, Football Insider have now reported that United are open to selling Marcus Rashford for a low fee as they look to get his enormous wages off the books. “Manchester United are finally open to the idea of agreeing a cut-price sale of Marcus Rashford to Barcelona this summer after making a U-turn, sources have told Football Insider. “The Spanish giants have desperately been trying to re-negotiate their £26million purchase option for the England international, and are still determined to sign him even after moving for Anthony Gordon. United need to get Marcus Rashford off the books permanently “The Red Devils are now happy to sell the 28-year-old for whatever fee they can, with sources indicating that his wages have automatically been hiked up after his parent club secured Champions League qualification. “United are keen to get the forward off their wage bill in any way possible, and Barcelona are open to the idea of both a permanent deal this summer or potentially another loan.” Marcus Rashford has been busy training at Inter Miami ahead of the World Cup, hoping for a resolution that would keep him at Camp Nou. United are keen to move him on as his sale will count as pure profit, which would further allow INEOS to back Carrick to the hilt. Feature image Paul Miller 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 Ayantan Chowdhury After failing to become a professional footballer, Ayantan switched to the next best thing: writing about the greatest football club in the world. He has extensive sports journalism experience, having worked for over 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25