Before his loan move to Aston Villa, England and Manchester United star Marcus Rashford was on the radar of Hansi Flick’s Barcelona – but the La Liga outfit looked elsewhere after three players ‘expressed concerns’ over his prospective addition.
Rashford, who enjoyed what is widely regarded as one of the best debuts in Premier League history, was all-but banished from Ruben Amorim’s thinking before jumping ship and joining Unai Emery’s roster for the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.
The 27-year-old has the option to move to the Midlands-based outfit on a permanent basis at the conclusion of this campaign – for a reported fee around the £40 million mark, but the Villans were not the only club sniffing around his signature.
Prior to Rashford’s intra-Premier League switch, Barcelona – and the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain – were also among his keen admirers, but a move failed to come to fruition after some of Flick’s squad were firmly against the idea.
Moving to Barcelona, in particular, was always going to throw up obstacles given their ongoing financial ruin, which, in turn, has left them scrambling in an attempt to register existing players such as the exciting Dani Olmo and young centre forward Pau Victor.
Aligning possible new players with their salary cap, which has caused difficulties in seasons of late, would have been difficult for the five-time Champions League– hence the ever-growing anxiety among the players.
According to SPORT, Barcelona stars expressed concerns over Rashford’s potential acquisition. That’s because, by virtue of affording the winger’s lofty wage packet, they worried that Flick offloading current stars would have happened as a result.
The Spanish publication suggested that such concerns were not strictly restricted to Rashford’s prospective arrivals but, instead, to all players that Flick and his entourage were targeting in the latter stages of the 2024/25 mid-season window.
A triumvirate of Pedri, Gavi and Ronald Araujo – all of whom have extended their stays in Spain recently – are specifically named in the report as having expressed their worries, but other players, who remain unnamed, were additionally against the signing.
At the time of writing, Wythenshawe-born Rashford is yet to make his debut for Emery’s men, who are vying for a spot in next season’s Champions League. There is every chance that he could face his former admirers, Barcelona, during their 2024/25 run at Europe’s top table.
