Fresh reports out of England claim that Barcelona are revisiting their decision to sign Marcus Rashford following the way their Nico Williams chase turned out.
The Spain international, after months of teasing a Barcelona move, signed a long-term deal with Athletic Club Bilbao, his hometown club. The young winger, who is good friends with Lamine Yamal, signed with his boyhood club until 2035. He will be 32 years old when the contract expires, but can leave for a little over 100 million, according to reports. This is because the club increased his release clause from the 64 million that Barcelona were preparing to pay.
Barcelona’s main target for the summer transfer window is a left winger, which is why the Nico Williams deal was key for them. They were considering Luis Diaz, but Liverpool are playing hardball, and insisting that nothing short of 80 million will convince them to release the Colombian. This is why they are revisiting the Marcus Rashford move, which was one of the potential options they had been exploring.
This is according to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenburg, who wrote on X: “Understand FC Barcelona want to try again for Marcus Rashford. A move for Luis Díaz is currently very unlikely, so Barca have reopened talks with Rashford.
“The 27 y/o winger is set to leave Manchester United, where he is under contract until 2028. Rashford has many enquiries, and Barcelona are one of them.”
Transfer insider Ben Jacobs had previously confirmed that United have given Rashford extra time to find a new club as they want to part ways with the versatile forward. “Marcus Rashford, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Tyrell Malacia and Jadon Sancho have all informed Manchester United they wish to leave,” Jacobs said. “Club understanding of their position and have delayed their return date until later in July to allow them time to explore solutions further.”
Rashford, however, has admirers in the Premier League. But former Leicester manager Martin Allen believes that the only possibility for a Premier League move would be for it to be an incentive-based contract.
Allen said: “I think Marcus Rashford has got his mind set on playing abroad with either Barcelona or Real Madrid. How good is he? I’m not so sure.
“He may do well on a short-term deal when he’s got to fight every week, but for me personally, I wouldn’t give him a long-term deal.
“He is definitely a danger, but I’m just not sure how mentally focused he is.
“If I were [interested clubs], I would give him a short-term deal with the incentives around scoring goals, playing games that can see his money topped up.“
