Marcus Rashford may have suffered a potential setback to his ambitions of departing Manchester United to secure a permanent move to Barcelona. Rashford left United last summer to join the La Liga giants on a loan deal until the conclusion of the season.
Barcelona hold the option to sign Rashford from United in the summer for a fee of €30million (£26million), and there have been numerous reports claiming to provide insight into what the Spanish club might do once the transfer window reopens. Rashford made clear his desire to leave United last summer and has spoken openly about his wish to remain at the Camp Nou beyond the current campaign.
Portuguese publication Record reported that Benfica are ‘open’ to selling Schjelderup amid speculation that Barcelona could move swiftly to sign the 21-year old-forward. Schjelderup recently admitted that he would welcome a move to Barcelona upon learning of the reported interest from the La Liga club.
“The truth is I didn’t know anything about this, but if it were true, it would be fantastic,” Schjelderup told Norwegian TV channel TV2 last week. This follows a report from Spanish publication Sport, which suggested that Barcelona have put on hold their pursuit of a permanent arrangement for Rashford for the time being, and it remains uncertain whether that will change over the coming weeks.
The England international remains under contract at United until the summer of 2028, which could present the Old Trafford hierarchy and Rashford himself with a significant decision should Barcelona fail to move forward with a permanent transfer at the conclusion of the season. Rashford has made his intentions clear that he would like to remain at Barcelona beyond his current loan spell, which is due to expire at the end of the season.
“Of course, what I want is to stay at Barca,” Rashford previously told Sport. “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.”