Marcus Rashford close to reinforcing Barcelona’s attack
Forward Marcus Rashford arrived in Barcelona on Sunday, anticipating his season-long loan from Manchester United.
Rashford, 27, will undergo medical examinations at the beginning of the week and, if all goes according to plan, will be presented as a Barça player before the club begins its tour, according to a source.
Barcelona will travel to Asia on Thursday and coach Hansi Flick wants to have Rashford in Japan and South Korea so that he adapts to the team as soon as possible before the start of the season in August.
Rashford was authorized to travel to Barcelona after the clubs completed all the necessary documentation on Sunday.
The terms include an option for the agreement to become permanent next summer, with reports suggesting the price is set at around 30 million euros. Barca had made signing a left winger their priority this summer.
Rashford has been on the table since January, and sources have highlighted his desire to join Barça.
It’s also a more affordable option than other players, given that he arrives on loan instead of for a significant fee.
Reports suggest that he has also accepted a significant salary reduction to facilitate the transfer, but sources from Barça did not comment on contractual matters.
The international Englishman arrives looking to relaunch his career after a difficult period at United.
He spent the last two weeks training away from United’s first team after coach Rúben Amorim informed him that he was not in his plans at Old Trafford.
He hasn’t played for United since facing Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League last December, with Amorim dropping the player for the 2-1 Premier League win against Manchester City and not considering him for the first team again.
A six-month loan to Aston Villa did not turn into a permanent transfer for a pre-agreed fee of £40 million, but sources have said that Rashford has always preferred to join Barca after the possibility of such a transfer arose in January.
Now it will reinforce an attack from Barça that already has Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo.
