Barcelona draw up desperate transfer plan to solve major Marcus Rashford issue

Marcus Rashford has completed a season-long loan move to Barcelona but the Manchester United star is in the middle of a sticky situation involving the Catalan club

Barcelona face a race against time to sell players to make room for Marcus Rashford in their squad, it has been claimed. The Catalan club face a familiar problem as they aim to register the England international, who completed a loan move from Manchester United in July.

Last summer, Hansi Flick’s side found themselves in a similar situation with Dani Olmo. The issue concerns La Liga’s wage cap, wit clubs required to trim their bill – ideally by offloading senior players – if they want to add any new arrivals to their squad.

They were eventually able to register Olmo in time for the start of the 2024-25 season, before being forced to jump through hoops for a second time in January. This time around, Rashford isn’t the only one facing the same situation.

Barca completed a loan move for Rashford with an option to buy, and he – along with new keeper Joan Garcia – need to be accommodated. According to Sport (via Football Espana), the club will also need to re-register Wojciech Szczesny after the Polish international’s contract expired and he signed fresh terms.

The club are also looking to register youngsters Gerard Martin and Marc Bernal as first-teamers, as well as new signing Roony Bardghji. Swedish winger Bardghji joined from FC Copenhagen earlier in the summer, but will reportedly only be added to the first-team squad after the other five.

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Barcelona will get their campaign underway against Mallorca on August 16. They have previously expressed confidence over doing what they need to do to ensure Rashford can play a part, but they’re not there yet.

A number of players have already left this summer, including Pablo Torre – who could feature against them for Mallorca on the opening day. Clement Lenglet and Pau Victor are among the others to leave permanently, while Ansu Fati’s loan to Monaco will see the Ligue 1 club cover a portion of the player’s wages.

The future of Marc Andre ter Stegen could remain a key factor when it comes to Barca registering new players. The German goalkeeper missed most of last season through injury, and Barca had looked to register Garcia as an injury replacement – thereby not having to find extra wage budget for him.

Those short-term replacements account for players expected to miss four months or more, and Ter Stegen has publicly denied this to be the case. According to reports in Spain, the club have begun disciplinary proceedings against the former Borussia Monchengladbach stopper, who is still Barca’s captain – though some board members are said to have questioned whether he should retain the armband.

The injury clause allowed Barca to register Olmo last season. Danish defender Christensen missed the first half of the campaign with an achilles issue, but Olmo needed to be re-registered upon the centre-back’s January return.

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