Marcus Rashford holds transfer talks in bid to leave Man Utd for dream club

Manchester United are keen to sell Marcus Rashford in the summer transfer window and initial talks have now been held with Barcelona, although his wages remain an issue

Marcus Rashford’s representatives have reportedly held talks with Barcelona over a possible transfer this summer. Rashford is seeking a permanent exit from Manchester United this summer after a fruitful but brief loan spell at Aston Villa and is keen to join Barcelona.

The 27-year-old forward was shipped out on loan to Villa in January by Ruben Amorim, who froze him out of the first-team squad at Old Trafford. He responded well, contributing four goals and six assists in 17 appearances for Villa to revitalise his career following a fallow spell at United.

His boyhood club have made it clear that they will sell the England international for £40million this summer, with Amorim needing to shift fringe players to reinvest the funds in his underperforming squad. United are, in fact, ready to listen to offers for any of their players, although selling loanees Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony remains a priority.

Rashford wants to get his future sorted quickly, otherwise he will have to report for pre-season with United in early July. The problem is that he is being paid £350,000 per week by United on a contract which runs until June 2028 – terms that no other club will meet.

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Nevertheless, Barca appear to be interested, with SPORT reporting that the club’s sporting director Deco met with Rashford’s agent at a hotel in the city on Wednesday morning. Barca are understood to prefer the signing of Liverpool winger Luis Diaz, but Rashford could be a more realistic option, given United want to sell and Liverpool don’t.

“We like Luis, we like Rashford, and we like other players,” Deco told Catalan radio station RAC 1 recently. “Out of respect, talking about players who are under contract with other clubs is complicated. When we go to the market, there are names we know that could improve the team.”

Diaz’s father has previously said it would be a “dream” for his son to join Barca, although the winger has a contract until June 2027 and he recently reaffirmed his happiness on Merseyside after winning the Premier League.

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Barcelona will be guided by their financial issues this summer and will likely push for a loan move for Rashford, which could mean a prolonged bargaining period between the two clubs. The Catalan giants have prioritised signing their key players up to new contracts and star wingers Lamine Yamal and Raphinha have already committed their futures to the club following their La Liga win.

“If we can keep the core of the team together, that’s what we want,” Deco explained. “I think we can do it. I think you can always improve the team, but you have to understand what kind of player you need. We’ve focused first on what we have at home and renewals.

“The renewals of Raphinha, [Frenkie] De Jong, and Eric [Garcia] will come, for sure. That’s the priority. We’ll talk about improving the team if we can, but the key is stability. We don’t believe that players will ask to leave.”

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