Marcus Rashford’s time as a Manchester United player appears to be drawing to a close, potentially costing the club millions in transfer fees. The England international is currently on loan at Barcelona after expressing his wish to leave Old Trafford last summer.
It’s believed that Barcelona have an option to make Rashford’s move permanent at the end of the season for a fee of around £26 million. Earlier this week, reports emerged suggesting that Barcelona had informed Rashford and his team of their intention to secure his services on a permanent basis this summer. Rashford has netted seven goals and provided 11 assists during his stint with the La Liga giants, and speculation about his future intensified following Ruben Amorim‘s departure from Old Trafford.
Before the January transfer window opened, rumours surfaced that Paris Saint-Germain were interested in signing Rashford once his Barcelona loan ended. Spanish reports in November suggested that PSG had ensured funds were available to sign Rashford if the opportunity arose.
It was reported that the Ligue 1 giants had put aside £43 million to strike a deal with United for Rashford this summer. Consequently, should Rashford complete a permanent move to Barcelona, United could potentially miss out on £17million they would have received from PSG. In an interview with Sport last month, Rashford expressed his desire to join Barcelona on a permanent basis.
“Of course what I want is to stay at Barca,” Rashford said. “It’s an end goal, but it’s not the reason why I’m training hard and giving it my best. The purpose is to win. Barca is a huge, fantastic club, built to win titles.”
Rashford’s latest appearance for Barcelona came from the substitute’s bench in a 5-0 win over Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup earlier this week. The England international made a cameo appearance in the second half, having previously been withdrawn at half-time during Barca’s 2-0 win over Espanyol in La Liga a few days earlier.
United are already being linked with several potential new signings during the January transfer window, but the focus at the moment will be on appointing a replacement to Amorim who left Old Trafford earlier this week. Darren Fletcher has been placed in interim charge, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick have been linked with getting the job on a caretaker basis until the end of the season.