Barcelona are advancing with a move to sign Marcus Rashford from Manchester United.
Barcelona have made an offer via intermediaries to loan Rashford next season and the proposal includes an option to buy.
The 27-year-old wants the move and the idea has been agreed to by United and although it is not yet a done deal, talks between all parties are now at the final stages.
The proposed transfer would see Barcelona covering Rashford’s full salary for the duration of the temporary switch.
Barcelona have been looking for an attacker who can operate in wide areas and up front, which makes Rashford an attractive option. Left-wing has been considered a priority for the club after they felt they were short of options in that position towards the end of last season.
Head coach Hansi Flick has spoken to the England international and approved his arrival.
Taking Rashford on an initial temporary basis would also help Barcelona as they continue to navigate a difficult financial situation.
Rashford joined Aston Villa on loan from United in the winter window for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign and scored four goals in 17 appearances for Unai Emery’s side.
His season was curtailed by a hamstring injury picked up in April. He missed the final four games of the campaign and was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad for the upcoming fixtures against Andorra and Senegal.
Rashford is one of United’s top earners at more than £325,000 per week, of which Villa covered three-quarters — in addition to performance-related bonuses — for the duration of his loan deal.
The Athletic reported in January that the 27-year-old favoured a move to Barcelona, with sporting director Deco keeping close tabs on the forward. The Athletic reported on June 3 that Rashford’s brother and agent, Dwaine Maynard, had been in the Catalan city for talks.
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick said earlier this summer he hoped to add wide forwards to his squad with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha currently first-choice in the positions in Barca’s 4-3-3 system.
The club agreed personal terms with Nico Williams before the Spain international opted instead to stay at Athletic Club and sign a new contract until 2035 while Liverpool knocked back an approach for Luis Diaz last month and insist the 28-year-old, who is also of interest to Bayern Munich, is not for sale.
When asked about signing a new winger in the summer in May, Flick said: “This is what we have talked about with the club. In the last matches maybe we did not have a lot of options in that position… so we have to bring more options to the team and more quality. This is the job from Deco, is clear, and I will support him.”
On Diaz and Rashford specifically, Flick added: “I don’t want to speak about players which are not in my team, but of course Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford are fantastic players. I like them and we’ll see what happens.”
Rashford has not featured for United since the Europa League fixture against Viktoria Plzen on December 12, having first been left out of the squad by Ruben Amorim for the Premier League match against Manchester City on December 15.
In an interview later in December, Rashford said he was “ready for a new challenge” away from United.
United have never publicly closed the door to Rashford being reintegrated, although he was one of five players given extra time to explore a move away by the club. Despite that Rashford reported back to Carrington on July 8 and worked on an individual basis, not taking part in team training with the rest of Ruben Amorim’s squad
The United academy product has made 426 appearances for the club and scored 138 goals since his debut in 2015.
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