Marcus Rashford won’t be playing for Aston Villa next season, as the Lions have deemed 40 million pounds too rich of a price to send to Manchester United for the 27-year-old forward.
Now, Manchester United have to find a team willing to sign Rashford, but it won’t be easy. While Rashford is an effective left winger with the theoretical upside to become world-class, he commands high wages and is probably only going to be interested in playing for teams with a high level of pedigree.
According to the latest information from top transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, Rashford is still “very keen” on joining Barcelona in summer 2025 after eyeing them as a possible landing spot before ultimately settling on a six-month loan to Aston Villa.
Per Fab, there are “positive feelings” from Rashford’s camp after the latest meetings, but Barcelona and Manchester United still have some work to do before a deal can be on the table.
Manchester United don’t have much leverage
Manchester United are reportedly still holding out for 40 million pounds, and Barcelona are looking at other options on the left wing. For example, Joan Laporta has been banging the drum for 2021/22 Serie A MVP Rafael Leao for at least a year.
Although Leao is branded as inconsistent, he has led AC Milan to a Serie A title and has been the best player in the league before. And even when he isn’t having an acclaimed season, he is still in the top three in the league in his position, which is a level Rashford hasn’t been for years.
But Rashford would also cost half as much as Leao. Barcelona couldn’t even sign Rashford this past winter because of financial issues that even prevented them from registering their own stars, like Dani Olmo, at one point.
Barcelona are in a better spot financially, though. They just won all three domestic trophies in Spanish football and were inches away from reaching the Champions League Final this year, too.
Obviously, Rashford would want to prioritize a move for Barcelona, and if Barca are interested enough, they could really make this deal happen, especially if Rashford digs his heels in and tells Man United he only wants them.
Manchester United don’t have much leverage here. There are few teams Rashford wants to go to, and, honestly, few teams interested in signing him, particularly at 40 million pounds.
Barcelona could negotiate a loan deal similar to what Man United did with both Antony and Rashford himself in January, getting a similar option to buy or even something lower, since Ruben Amorim probably wants to move on from Rashford as soon as he can in order to build the team he wants.
Rashford to Barcelona, at this point in time, looks like the most likely move for the England international, and while it’s unfair to place too much on him, there’s a hope that the 27-year-old can benefit from a switch to Spain similarly to Antony in 2025.
Joe Soriano covers Tottenham for FanSided’s Hotspur HQ and writes about Real Madrid for The Real Champs. He has extensive experience covering world football since 2014. Joe is an editor for The Trivela Effect, where he covers the biggest clubs in European football. He has watched professional sports regularly since 2002 and can be found playing the same sports he covers with his friends.