Marcus Rashford's career has spent the last two years resembling a soap opera that nobody asked for but everyone is watching. He fell out at Manchester United, went to Barcelona on loan, rediscovered himself, nearly stayed at Barcelona and now thanks to Anthony Gordon signing for the club he may be heading to Bayern Munich instead. This is either a brilliant story about a player refusing to give up or a very complicated situation that still has several chapters left to run.
The basic facts are these. Rashford joined Barcelona on loan from Manchester United this season and was genuinely good. Thirteen goals and thirteen assists in 45 games. Hansi Flick liked him. Barcelona liked him. They had a €30 million buy option and at one stage it looked like it would be triggered. Then Barcelona decided €30 million was too much for a player on Manchester United wages and started negotiating for a lower fee or another loan. Manchester United, who need the money and need him gone, were not interested in another loan arrangement. And then Barcelona went out and signed Anthony Gordon for £69 million and the entire conversation changed overnight.
With Gordon arriving to play on the left, the position Rashford occupied, there simply is not room for both of them. Bayern Munich have been monitoring the situation and are now reportedly considering making a move. Dietmar Hamann has publicly urged Bayern to sign him, calling Rashford a brilliant player available for a fee that represents outstanding value. The German market could suit Rashford well. The Bundesliga is slightly less intense than the Premier League, the football is expansive and attacking, and Bayern is a club that demands quality without necessarily demanding that you carry the entire team every week.
The question with Rashford has always been about mentality and environment rather than ability. Nobody who has watched him at his best doubts the talent. What people have questioned is whether he has the consistency and the desire to sustain it over a full season. His Barcelona numbers suggest he does when the environment is right. Bayern would give him that environment. A proper club structure, clear expectations, a manager in Vincent Kompany who understands how to handle talented players who need an arm around them as much as a boot up them. If Rashford ends up at Bayern Munich this summer it could genuinely be the making of him as a top level player for the next four or five years. Manchester United fans will watch with a very complicated set of feelings.
Let me know your thoughts.