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Rio Ferdinand was right when he claimed a lot of people were taken aback by Barcelona‘s interest in Marcus Rashford, "given what he’s produced over the last two years". Basically, the forward’s form and conduct have made a mockery of Manchester United‘s decision to give Rashford a new contract in July 2023 worth a staggering £325,000 ($438,000) per week.
Consequently, Ruben Amorim decided just over a month after taking over as manager last November that he wanted rid of Rashford as soon as possible. Frustratingly for United, a buyer could not be found – even after a mildly encouraging loan spell at Aston Villa during the second half of last season.
However, Barca have just agreed to sign Rashford with an option to buy for a fee in the region of £30 million ($40m) next summer – which is pretty much the best United could have hoped for in the circumstances. A transfer fee obviously would have been preferable, as it would have raised some badly-needed funds for the Amorim’s enormous rebuilding job at Old Trafford, but United have at least managed to remove Rashford’s enormous salary from their wage bill.
Furthermore, there’s every chance that the loan deal could materialise into a permanent transfer – because while the general perception is that he’ll be nothing more than a bench-warmer at Barcelona, Rashford could actually become a bargain buy this time next year…
Rio Ferdinand was right when he claimed a lot of people were taken aback by Barcelona’s interest in Marcus Rashford, “given what he’s produced over the last two years”. Basically, the forward’s form and conduct have made a mockery of Manchester United’s decision to give Rashford a new contract in July 2023 worth a staggering £325,000 ($438,000) per week.
Consequently, Ruben Amorim decided just over a month after taking over as manager last November that he wanted rid of Rashford as soon as possible. Frustratingly for United, a buyer could not be found – even after a mildly encouraging loan spell at Aston Villa during the second half of last season.
However, Barca have just agreed to sign Rashford with an option to buy for a fee in the region of £30 million ($40m) next summer – which is pretty much the best United could have hoped for in the circumstances. A transfer fee obviously would have been preferable, as it would have raised some badly-needed funds for the Amorim’s enormous rebuilding job at Old Trafford, but United have at least managed to remove Rashford’s enormous salary from their wage bill.
Furthermore, there’s every chance that the loan deal could materialise into a permanent transfer – because while the general perception is that he’ll be nothing more than a bench-warmer at Barcelona, Rashford could actually become a bargain buy this time next year…
United have obviously made a lot of dreadful moves during their decade of decline – and Rashford’s colossal contract extension will obviously be remembered as one of them. However, we’re not exactly talking about blowing £85m ($114m) on Antony here.
Rashford was playing out of his skin at the time, coming off the most prolific season of his career, having become the first United player since Robin van Persie to score 30 goals in all competitions across a single season. The word “unstoppable” was repeatedly used to describe Rashford during that 2022-23 campaign – and not just by then-boss Erik ten Hag.
Casemiro, for example, freely admitted that he had had no idea just how good Rashford was before joining United from Real Madrid. “In my opinion, especially knowing the player off the pitch, I can tell you that if he’s feeling good, he can be one of the top five players in the world,” the five-time Champions League winner told ESPN Brasil.
Casemiro’s claim didn’t look that ridiculous during the 2022 World Cup either. Rashford was a major problem for opponents during the group stage, scoring three times in three appearances, and many England fans were perplexed by Gareth Southgate’s refusal to start the Mancunian in the knockout rounds.
Back then, it really did feel as if a 25-year-old Rashford was capable of justifying comparisons with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, with Ten Hag absolutely adamant that the best was yet to come.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement in his game,” the Dutchman said in May 2023. “I’m convinced he could score even more. We supported him where we could, with the way of playing but also in his mental mindset, so we are happy with that. But now we have to push for more, as I am sure he’s capable of scoring 40 goals in a season.”
Rashford has managed just 19 since then, though, and that explains why there’s so much scepticism surrounding his Barca move.However, this is a deal that makes both sporting and financial sense for the Catalans.
There’s no denying that Barcelona would have preferred to have signed either Nico Williams or Luis Diaz as they pursued a wide forward this summer. Rashford was, at best, third on their list of left wingers. However, the lack of a transfer fee should (hopefully!) mean that there are no issues registering Rashford, while there is also room for the Old Trafford outcast in Hansi Flick’s starting line up.
Barca have wanted another winger for some time now – and not just to serve as Raphinha’s understudy. Flick quite understandably feels that the Brazilian would be best deployed as a No.10, given just how much damage he did whenever he drifted into central areas last season.
Consequently, game time will likely be just as much of a concern for Dani Olmo next season as Rashford. Barca went to an awful lot of trouble to ensure that the Spain international was eligible to play after his arrival from RB Leipzig, but Olmo spent a worrying amount of time on the sidelines nursing niggling muscular problems that hindered his attempts to justify the decision to prioritise his signing over that of Williams last summer.
Rashford’s hopes of regular match action will also be aided by his versatility. He has played up front in the past – sometimes quite successfully – and will definitely be an option anytime Flick wants to rest first-choice striker Robert Lewandowski, who turns 37 just five days after the start of Barca’s Liga campaign.
Of course, Ferran Torres did a fine job of filling in for Lewandowski last season, bagging a career-high 19 goals in all competitions, and is more determined than ever before to prove himself a potential long-term successor to the prolific Pole. However, Rashford undoubtedly offers Flick another viable option at No.9 – and that’s exactly what the German wanted after being unable to rotate his regulars as much as he would have liked last season.
It’s clear that Barca’s idea is to utilise Rashford in his preferred and most effective position on the left wing and, as Ferdinand has argued, he could offer Flick something very different to the other members of the Barca attack if he remembers what once made him so effective.
“Rashford’s game changed [over the past two years], wanting to dribble with the ball more,” the former United defender told his YouTube channel. “But the reason why he was so hard to play against was that he was willing to run behind. He’s magic at that when he gets that right and when he’s consistent with that.
“He could be that difference for this Barcelona team. Raphinha doesn’t mind running in behind, but he does like it to feet. Lamine Yamal would rather get it to feet and dribble. And Lewandowski is not someone who can run in behind as much anymore. He’s more of a target man, a great finisher. So, I think Flick will be [saying to Rashford], ‘Give us something different to what we’ve already got.’
“Raphinha on the left, Lewandowski up front, Lamine Yamal on the right – Rashford doesn’t automatically start in this team, but he could go in there and be a huge impact and then get games off the back of that impact. So, Marcus doesn’t have to go in there and displace anybody. He’s got to go in there and add value to this team.”
There are, of course, concerns over Rashford’s past behaviour. His professionalism, discipline and work ethic were being called into question long before Amorim arrived in Manchester, and it’s telling that so many former United stars believe the club will be better off without a character who – rightly or wrongly – came to symbolise the damaging sense of entitlement and obvious over-indulgence at Old Trafford.
Paul Parker believes that success has gone to Rashford’s head, pointing out in an exclusive interview with بالجم “He’s got a bigger entourage than most boxers! الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز teams might have wanted the footballer, but not the person and what comes with it.”
Teddy Sheringham, meanwhile, found Rashford’s conduct throughout his protracted exit “soul-destroying” and went further than Ferdinand by arguing that his move to Barcelona wasn’t just surprising, but utterly undeserved too.
Whether Rashford has earned this step up is irrelevant, though; all that matters now is that he makes the most of this unexpected opportunity and, for all his perceived failings, motivation really shouldn’t be an issue. Tellingly, he already appears to be in great shape and has also agreed to take a pay cut to make this deal happen. And why? Because, at 27, Rashford knows full well that he isn’t going to get another chance like this to belatedly realise his world-class potential.
As Lisandro Martinez told Sky Sports in 2023, “For me, Rashy is an incredible player. He can be anything he wants to be, it all depends on him.” Despite everything that’s happened in the past two years, that remains as true now as it was back then.
