A year ago today, Marcus Rashford was scoring his first goal for Barcelona on loan from Manchester United in a pre-season win over Daegu in South Korea.
It was the start of an exciting new chapter in Rashford’s career after a summer in which he had been banished by United boss Ruben Amorim and forced to train separately with the ‘bomb squad’ at Carrington.
Rashford won the La Liga title during his season at the Nou Camp, playing well enough to earn a recall to the England squad for this summer’s World Cup. Yet Barca declined to trigger a £26million option to buy him before their deadline in mid-June – despite head coach Hansi Flick admitting over the weekend that he will miss the player – and no other clubs have been prepared to meet United’s £40million valuation.
As it stands, the feeling at United and within Rashford’s camp is that he is likely to return and play for his boyhood club next season. But with a month of the transfer window remaining, there is still uncertainty over the 28-year-old’s future.
Daily Mail Sport assesses Rashford’s situation and the options on the table as he prepares to report back for pre-season training.
A year ago, Marcus Rashford was banished by Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim and forced to train separately with the ‘bomb squad’ at Carrington
Rashford won the La Liga title during his season on loan at Barcelona, playing well enough to earn a recall to the England squad for this summer’s World Cup
Why hasn’t Rashford left United this summer?
Any exit would have to factor in his £325,000-a-week salary, which was agreed when he signed a five-year contract at Old Trafford in 2023. It is one of the reasons why United have been looking to move Rashford, and also why that has not been easy.
Suggestions that Rashford, comfortably United’s highest earner since Casemiro left this summer, could take a pay cut are unrealistic. Barca paid the entirety of his wages during the season on loan, but were only prepared to offer half the £26million price tag to make the move permanent.
United rejected any attempt by the Catalans to take Rashford on loan for a second season, and once Barca signed his England team-mate Anthony Gordon from Newcastle to play on the left side of their attack, it always looked as though they had moved on. Rashford issued a heartfelt message last week thanking the club and its fans for ‘a positive and unforgettable experience’.
Once the deadline for Barca to sign Rashford expired on June 15, United made it known that they would listen to offers of £40million from other clubs – with the exception of Manchester City and Liverpool – for the Wythenshawe-born player until that option ran out in mid-July.
Daily Mail Sport understands that a number of clubs from the Premier League – including two with a particular interest – as well as from Italy, Germany, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are still weighing up a move, most likely on loan.
Barcelona turned to Rashford’s England team-mate Anthony Gordon (right) on the left wing this summer, in a £70million move from Newcastle
Liverpool were one of two clubs excluded from a £40m option to sign Rashford last month
When is he due back at United?
Rashford is among the final group of World Cup players due to report back next week, along with his England team-mate Kobbie Mainoo and Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez.
However, it’s a measure of the sensitivity that still surrounds his situation that United are not confirming a return date. If he does reappear next week, it remains to be seen if that will be to Carrington or Maynooth, where Michael Carrick’s squad are training at Carton House before a friendly against Leeds at Croke Park next Wednesday.
It comes a year after intense scrutiny over his comings and goings at the training ground, following Amorim’s decision to keep Rashford and the rest of the bomb squad away from Carrington until the rest of the first team had left, in what was politely described as ‘a coordinated return’.
It’s unthinkable that Carrick would take a similar stance to Amorim, who famously said he would rather play his 63-year-old goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital than Rashford in January last year, days before the player joined Aston Villa on loan. Carrick is a more conciliatory character than Amorim, having played alongside Rashford, coached him and managed him in the decade since he exploded onto the first-team scene under Louis van Gaal in 2016.
Intriguingly, Rashford’s first game back for United could be against Amorim’s AC Milan in Wroclaw a week on Saturday.
Rashford scored the first goal of the Amorim era, in a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town, but their relationship quickly deteriorated
Rashford (left) and Carrick (second right) have a relationship going back 10 years to when they were team-mates at United, winning the FA Cup together in 2016
Can Rashford be reintegrated at United?
In principle, his return makes total sense. United have been in the market for a left-sided attacker, and they already have one under contract for another two years who has the ability to be one of the most dynamic wide players in Europe on his day. Why wouldn’t the club be open to welcoming Rashford back to the club where he grew up?
Perhaps the cost of a replacement has made United think again too. This summer they have been priced out of a number of deals – notably for Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes – and spent just £85million so far, on Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans.
Gordon went to Barcelona for £70million and Crysencio Summerville, one of the players on United’s list, joined Al Hilal for £68million from West Ham. Suddenly the cost of keeping Rashford doesn’t seem so high.
His form dipped during his last two seasons at United, but there is nothing to say that Carrick and his staff can’t have the same rejuvenating effect on Rashford as they have on Mainoo. Like Mainoo, Rashford’s main beef was with Amorim. That’s not to say there won’t be any lingering issues with other figures at United, but nothing that would rule out a return.
Yet still there are no guarantees that Rashford will be a United player when the window closes next month. Might the club be tempted to accept an offer – a permanent move or loan – as the deadline draws near? With only Matheus Cunha and Patrick Dorgu to play on the left wing, would United have time to sign a replacement if he leaves?
After it appeared for a long time as though there was no way back for Rashford at United, it now seems more likely than not that he will play for the club again. But with the clock counting down to his return, the fact there are still as many questions as answers speaks volumes.