Sports Illustrated FC
·6 juillet 2025
Barcelona Make ‘Marcus Rashford Decision’, Surprise Man Utd Stance Revealed

In partnership with
Yahoo sportsSports Illustrated FC
·6 juillet 2025
Marcus Rashford’s prospects of moving to Barcelona have supposedly suffered a blow at the same as a new report claims that the Manchester United forward “never asked to leave” his boyhood club.
Rashford has been left in something of a transfer limbo this summer. After impressing on loan with Aston Villa during the second half of the 2024–25 campaign, Unai Emery’s side opted against triggering a £40 million ($54.6 million) buy option to make the move permanent. The England international has spent much of the subsequent off-season heavily hinting at a desired move to Barcelona.
A future at Manchester United, the club Rashford first joined aged seven but where he fell out of favour after clashing with incoming head coach Ruben Amorim, seems unlikely. Numerous outlets were briefed that Rashford was one of five players who have requested a transfer this summer. He is not expected to be part of the pre-season training squad which gathers on Monday.
However, the English journalist Henry Winter claims that “Rashford has not asked to leave Manchester United”. Winter goes on to explain that the 27-year-old “accepts” he will not be afforded any regular minutes at Old Trafford in the coming campaign and so “has to leave” to stake his claim for a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad at next summer’s World Cup.
Marcus Rashford has been reportedly stripped of his No. 10 shirt at Man Utd. / IMAGO/Sportimage
Many had expected Rashford’s next destination to be in Barcelona. The Mancunian forward even publicly admitted that he was “hopeful” of playing alongside the Catalan club’s star player Lamine Yamal.
However, Barcelona sporting director Deco has dramatically cooled on the idea of recruiting Rashford, AS claim. The United misfit is said to be off the agenda in Catalonia, with the chances of him arriving at Camp Nou “slim”.
The justification for this shift in stance—less than six weeks ago, Deco explicitly named Rashford as a player Barcelona “liked”—is the preference for Liverpool forward Luis Díaz. The Colombia international is deemed to be more versatile, more experienced and more willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the team than Rashford.
It remains to be seen if Barcelona have the funds to prise Díaz away from Liverpool, who are reportedly adamant that their fleet-footed forward is not for sale. The Catalan giants will have access to the resources which had been set aside for Nico Williams’s arrival after the Spanish winger sensationally snubbed a much billed transfer to remain at Athletic Club.
What lies ahead of Rashford is also mired in uncertainty. Matheus Cunha has been reportedly handed his No. 10 shirt at United, while there has been speculative interest from Bayern Munich.
feed