Rising Transfer Possibilities: Marcus Rashford’s Potential Move to Barcelona

Marcus Rashford has returned to Manchester United after his loan with Aston Villa officially expired on June 30.

However, the forward faces no real future at Old Trafford and he would rather be at a new club than returning to Carrington this summer.

So, with pre-season looming, where does Rashford go next?

Barcelona

Barcelona remains Rashford’s preferred destination should he leave United this summer.

And, intriguingly, the door could be opening on a move to Catalonia.

That’s because in the past week, Barcelona have seen their hopes of landing either Liverpool’s Luis Diaz or Athletic Club’s Nico Williams more or less extinguished.

Liverpool rejected Bayern Munich’s offer for Diaz – just as they rebuffed Barca’s advances earlier this summer – and made it clear the Colombian is not for sale. Then on Friday, Williams signed a new 10-year deal with Athletic Club.

Financial issues remain a concern at Barcelona. They have tight financial parameters set by LaLiga and a recent history of failing to register players due to problems around funding those deals.

Rashford’s prospects of a switch to Barcelona look more likely now than they did a week ago – but how a deal will be structured will take some work given Barcelona’s financial issues, Rashford’s wages at Manchester United, and the Old Trafford club’s preference to sell rather than sanction another loan.

Aston Villa

It is understood that, if he cannot move to Barcelona, Rashford wants a move to another Champions League club.

It is for that reason that Aston Villa appear out of the running for the moment and have not pursued a permanent deal at the £40m mark set by United.

Rashford moved to Villa on loan in January and he had a promising spell there, recovering some of his best form, but Villa missed out on Champions League qualification on the final day of the season.

Newcastle

In April, it was reported that Rashford does not want to move to London, which seemingly rules out Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs.

As United’s biggest rivals, Man City and Liverpool can also be considered highly unlikely. If he wants to play for a Champions League club in England, that just leaves Newcastle.

It’s understood that, if a Barcelona move does not materialise, Rashford may be open to Newcastle but Sky Sports News understands the Magpies have no interest in him at this stage.

Alexander Isak is their main striker, and Eddie Howe has other targets for wingers including Anthony Elanga – who they have made a second, increased bid of around £55m for – Johan Bakayoko, Karim Adeyemi and Mo Kudus.

Other clubs abroad

There has also been interest from clubs in Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia, Sky Sports News understands.

An issue for clubs in Europe more than Saudi has been Rashford’s high wages at United and how to reach an offer that would be attractive to him.

A loan deal would be more manageable for European clubs but United are not keen on this and prefer a permanent sale; as they also do with Antony, Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho.

However, Sancho has more concrete interest from Europe so far including Juventus, Napoli and former club Borussia Dortmund.

Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games from next season

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