Marcus Rashford has realised a dream — the chance to join Barcelona.
Barcelona have long been attracted to him, too.
The Catalans made an approach for the then 21-year-old in 2019, when he was rated a £100million ($134m at the current rate) player by Manchester United, and got nowhere — as they expected. But you don’t get if you don’t ask. They tried again when Jordi Cruyff, a former United player, was their sports director from 2022 to 2023. They thought it nearer mission impossible than mission difficult to get the United academy graduate then, too, but there were talks.
When the teams met in two epic 2022-23 Europa League knockout-phase games that marked the highest period of Erik ten Hag’s managerial tenure, his then Barcelona counterpart Xavi felt Rashford was United’s most dangerous player.
Ten Hag was sacked the following year, and Rashford’s stock also dropped. But that can be of benefit to the 27-year-old, since nobody is expecting him to be Lionel Messi in his prime during his season on loan at Barcelona. This is a huge opportunity to reboot his career. He should be highly motivated to take it and want to prove his many doubters wrong.
That there was no buyer from a top league willing to pay a substantial transfer fee for Rashford, who scored six goals while on loan at Aston Villa in the second half of last season, shows how out of favour he is. But this next loan move could be good for all. United save on the substantial wages of a top earner, with Rashford also taking a wage cut to help get the deal doneand there’s the possibility of a €30m (£26m) transfer fee further down the line — a steal for a player of his quality if he’s a success.
Marcus Rashford playing for Aston Villa against Club Brugge in the Champions League last 16 (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
Barcelona must still find the money to register himbut as long as they do, this may prove the chance Rashford has wanted and needed. Barcelona are a top team. He has the chance to play in El Clasico and the Champions League and be in a team where he’ll get far more of the ball than he did in the Premier League with Villa, because attack is vital to Barca.
The Spanish champions’ fans will greet the signing with enthusiasm. Having failed to secure their No 1 target, Nico Williams of Bilbao’s Athletic Club, for the left side of attack and unable to convince Liverpool to sell them Luis Diaz, Rashford is a cost-effective alternative without needing to hand over an immediate transfer fee.
True, the wages are going to be big, but Barcelona are used to that — they increased Mark Hughes’ salary ninefold when he went from Old Trafford to Camp Nou in 1986. Hughes, by his own admission, said he only joined them for the money and didn’t embrace his new life. He was lonely, reclusive, and spent most of his free time sleeping. Whereas Gary Lineker, who signed for Barca at the same time, learned a new language, discovered a beautiful part of the world and made friends for life.
And the wages can also be offset with merchandise sales if the England international is a success. British visitors make up a substantial chunk of the tourist market Barca actively court by selling match tickets at a premium, and other than Cristiano Ronaldo, no United player has sold more shirts with his name on the back in the past decade than Rashford.
The forward is joining one of the best teams in the world, stocked with world-class talents; a club which played 60 competitive games last season, winning three trophies and scoring 174 goals along the way. But Barcelona wouldn’t be signing him if they didn’t think he could make an impact. They see an athletic, versatile ball player who can operate in three or four positions and score goals.
Rashford will have to earn his star status, just as David Beckham did when he moved from United to Spain’s other footballing giants, Real Madrid. Beckham’s new team-mates, who thought the Englishman had been signed to help sell shirts, soon appreciated the Englishman for his work rate.
Mark Hughes, pictured at the Camp Nou in 1986, struggled during his time at Barcelona (Simon Bruty/Allsport/Getty Images)
Off the pitch, Barcelona is one of the best cities in the world, and there are numerous daily flights between Manchester and the Catalan capital: many of Manchester City’s executives use them.
Living in Barcelona — most players’ homes are by the Mediterranean to the south of the city, near the airport — can be a blessing for a footballer who needs a change of scene. Leaving Manchester and the negativity that had built around Rashford — his relationship with United and most fans is damaged, though there were serious mitigating factors — could help.
But he must be seen to connect with Barcelona’s fans and the local media; to be a good person and embrace Catalan culture. Humility is important at a club that is owned by its members, who vote Barca’s president in.
The media is also influential and significantly different to what Rashford will be used to in the UK. Ilkay Gundogan barely engaged when he left Manchester for Barcelona in summer 2023 on a free transfer after City’s treble-winning season and was given a harsh time. When the German, now back with City after just a year at Barca, started to involve himself more, he was viewed in a different, more positive light.
No matter how big the name, though, there’s little patience for unprofessionalism, and the scrutiny will be fierce.
Not since Gary Neville became Valencia manager nearly a decade ago will someone moving from Mancunia to Iberia have faced so much attention.
“They made our own pressmen appear like pussycats,” recalled Hughes in his autobiography. A man who had been United’s star striker quickly felt that the Catalan media tried to turn the fans against him as a way of getting to the president who sanctioned his move.
Hughes had little issue with what was being written in Spanish as he couldn’t understand the language, more that it was being fed back to the British media. It quickly became a nightmare for him. Englishmen Terry Venables and Bobby Robson also had a rough ride during their spells as Barcelona’s manager, despite their successes there, for reasons they had little control over at what is the most political of football clubs. History, however, remembers them both, and Lineker, well.
Rashford now has his chance. The stage is set, and by the end of his loan, he could be playing to the biggest crowds in Spanish football as Barca’s Camp Nou renovations near completion, which will turn it into a 105,000-capacity stadium.
In Hansi Flick, he has a coach who speaks English and one who, perhaps most importantly, wanted to sign him.
Deco, Barca’s sports director, was also keen and, as mentioned, the club have long been admirers. United, meanwhile, were happy to get this situation resolved quickly.
Given the circumstances, Rashford couldn’t have asked for more.
(Top photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
