Barcelona have offered Manchester United approximately £13 million for Marcus Rashford. Let that sink in. A club that just paid £69 million for Anthony Gordon on Thursday are now trying to buy a player who scored 14 goals and provided 14 assists in La Liga this season for roughly half the agreed fee. The agreed buy option in the loan deal was £26 million. Barcelona are offering just over half that. Manchester United have told them to forget it.
The context makes this even more extraordinary. Barcelona signed Rashford in the summer knowing the buy option was £26 million. They agreed to those terms. Rashford went to Barcelona, worked hard, played well, helped them retain La Liga and rebuilt a career that had completely fallen apart at Old Trafford. He did everything asked of him. And now Barcelona are turning around and saying actually we would like to pay half what we agreed because we have spent our money elsewhere. If you were Marcus Rashford right now you would be absolutely furious.
The reason Barcelona are in this position is obvious. They spent £69 million on Anthony Gordon and do not have the funds to also trigger Rashford's option. Gordon was the priority. Rashford is the problem that needs solving cheaply. The deadline to trigger the option is June 15 so the clock is ticking. United have made their position clear — £26 million or Rashford comes back to Manchester and is sold to someone else. Bayern Munich are reportedly watching events with considerable interest.
The irony here is magnificent from a Manchester United perspective. A player who looked finished at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim, who was frozen out and shipped off to Barcelona to get him off the wage bill, has now put himself in a position where multiple European clubs want him and United can name their price. Michael Carrick inherited this situation and suddenly has a valuable asset on his hands rather than a problem to solve. If Barcelona do not blink before June 15 Rashford goes back to Manchester and United sell him to Bayern for something close to the £26 million anyway. Barcelona have played this very badly.
Let me know your thoughts.