Rashford emerges as shock Barca target - will he leave Man Utd?
Martin Macdonald
- 18 Dec 2021 18:33 GMT
- 3 min read
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has emerged as a surprise transfer target for Barcelona.
In the upcoming January transfer window, Xavi will attempt to strengthen his squad as they are in desperate need of reinforcements, particularly in attacking areas.
A number of players have been linked with the Blaugrana, including Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial, Alexis Sanchez, Agustin Galvan, Raheem Sterling and Ferran Torres.
Another Man Utd man has now been linked, though, in Rashford.
TRENDING
The England international has been on the periphery of things at Old Trafford this season, but that is largely due to undergoing shoulder surgery at the start of the campaign.
He is currently competing for minutes with the aforementioned Cavani and Martial, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo, Mason Greenwood, Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho.
Rashford may be a target for Barcelona, but any big-money transfer is unlikely to happen in January as the Catalan side are in a terrible state financially.
They will be identifying possible loan deals or players they can sign on the cheap whose contracts expire in June.
Any deal surrounding Rashford would be a loan with an option buy, and even for that to happen Barca need to reduce their wage bill and also sell some current squad players.
What has Rashford said about his future?
In an interview with The Guardian, Rashford refused to rule out a future move abroad, should the interest arrive.
“I would never say no,” remarked Rashford.
“I’m a big fan of Real Madrid and Barcelona, because they’ve always had great players and played attractive football."
However, this is in contrast to previous comments, as he said last year he cannot imagine himself not playing for Man Utd.
“For me, I never look beyond Manchester United,” he said.
“As a kid I’ve never looked beyond Manchester United in my mind, it wouldn’t sit right for me to be pulling on another shirt. I just want to do the best I can for the club whilst I’m here, so hopefully, I’m here for the long term.
“I think people only see some of the stuff that’s been happening since I’ve been in the first team, but the bond that I have with United is much greater than just these last five years, and it will forever be greater than my actual career.
“They’re the reason that I’ve become a footballer, they’ve given me an opportunity to express myself and find out that I had talent in football.”
