Rashford to Barcelona? The truth behind the transfer rumour
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 11 Dec 2023 09:05 GMT
- 3 min read
Marcus Rashford finds his Manchester United future in question after a turbulent week, with rumours even suggesting that he could leave Old Trafford for Barcelona.
After hitting 30 goals last season, Rashford has netted only twice in all competitions this time around and was dropped for Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea.
Days earlier, his attitude was questioned as United slumped to defeat away to Newcastle, with the England attacker seen wandering around the field at times when more energy was expected of him.
As such, there are serious suggestions that Rashford could go the same way as Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho in being fazed out of the team and, in the Portuguese’s case, moved on.
Calciomercato reported earlier in the week that Barcelona are considering a move for the winger, with these rumours escalating to such an extent that they have been reported across the UK media.
Why Barcelona can’t sign Rashford
Barcelona are not in a position to sign Rashford, though, not even if they were to send Raphinha in the opposite direction.
Financially, the move is simply not viable for the Camp Nou side, who are under major Financial Fair Play (FFP) constraints and have plan to add Vitor Roque to their ranks before the end of December as a way to exploit a loophole that allows them to bolster Xavi’s ranks.
The prospect of getting Rashford on top of that is simply not plausible.
Even if United were to agree to a swap, it would not simply be a player-for-player exchange. Rashford’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is more than €75 million, far in excess of Raphinha’s €29m. The Red Devils have been known to conduct poor transfer business in the recent past, but not to the tune of effectively giving away more than €45m.
On top of that, Rashford has huge wages that Barcelona cannot afford even if they were given him for absolutely nothing.
Barca have no wiggle room in their wage budget, so it seems impossible that they will find a way to match Rashford’s wage of over €19.5m per year, which is what he is under contract to earn at Man Utd until 2028.
Quite simply, this is a deal that should be considered no more than a rumour – it simply won’t happen in January.
