- Manchester United winger has spent the season at Barcelona
- Catalan side must pay €30 million
- Barcelona are also looking for a new number nine
After Barcelona winger Raphinha limped off at half-time during a friendly against France in Massachusetts, medical tests from the Brazilian Football Federation confirmed a hamstring injury.
The Brazilian will miss at least five weeks, ruling him out of key fixtures including Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid and potentially the El Clasico at Camp Nou on 10 May.
But what does this mean for the future of Marcus Rashford? The Manchester United loanee has featured 39 times this season, scoring 10 goals and laying on 13 assists in the process.
That said, the past few weeks have been frustrating. He has been handed just 90 minutes across the last five matches.
Even when Barcelona surged to an 8-3 aggregate over Newcastle, 7-2 on the night, Hansi Flick opted not to call Rashford on. Instead, he handed minutes to a quintet of Xavi Espart, Wojciech Szczesny, Dani Olmo, Ferran Torres, and Ronald Araujo.
What’s next for Rashford
Manchester United are standing firm on the £25m buy option in the loan agreement with Barca. Either the Catalans cough up the money, or Rashford returns to Old Trafford for pre-season. The Red Devils have made it clear they will not enter negotiations on the fee.
According to Spanish journalist Fernando Polo, the La Liga heavyweights are reviewing the English forward:
“Barcelona wants to see how Rashford performs in this final stretch of the season, especially now that Raphinha is out. In recent England, he made spectacular runs down the wing against Araujo and Valverde.”
He added:
“That’s what’s expected of him in this final stretch of the season, in addition to goals and assists.”
United also believe that Rashford’s upswing in form has increased the winger’s transfer value, meaning the club now believes they could receive more for him. But the Reds’ academy product is not the Catalans’ primary target.
With Robert Lewandowski expected to leave the club when his contract expires on 30 June, the Spaniards will be eager to spend heavily on a new number nine.
While they might follow the same route as they did with the Polish marksman—who scored 117 goals in 184 matches for Bayern—it seems unlikely that sporting director Deco, who prefers not to sign players over 30, will agree to pay the £70 million needed to tempt Bayern.
Instead, Barcelona now appear increasingly likely to target Atletico Madrid’s sharpshooter Julian Alvarez.
Atletico, however, are under no pressure to sell. The striker is tied to a contract running until 2030, and could cost a huge fee given he only arrived from Manchester City two summers ago.
But despite their supposed interest, the Spanish side is making progress on the Rashford front per The Athletic.
What can Barcelona actually spend?
Barca treasurer Ferran Olive told Cronica Global on 26 February that “We are €12million away from entering the 1:1 rule in La Liga’s salary limit.”
The La Liga 1:1 rule is a financial regulation that allows clubs to spend €1 on new player salaries or transfer fees for every €1 in revenue generated or saved through player sales.
On 3 March, La Liga released the updated salary limit for all clubs in the first and second divisions of Spanish football, with Barcelona’s salary cap rising from €351.2 million in September to €432.8 million.
Despite this, over the 2024-25 campaign, Barca’s total wage bill was €510m, meaning they still have a lot of work to do. Until they reduce wages, offload players, or generate extra revenue, they cannot fully comply with La Liga’s 1:1 spending rule.
