Man Utd: Rashford clause ‘expired in March’ with Barcelona future ‘more uncertain than ever’ | OneFootball

Barcelona failed to trigger their €30m buyout clause to sign Marcus Rashford from Man Utd before it expired in March, according to reports.

The Red Devils allowed Rashford to leave Old Trafford in the summer transfer window on a season-long loan deal to Barcelona.

Rashford had already spent the second part of  last season out on loan at Premier League rivals Aston Villa after falling out with former Man Utd head coach Ruben Amorim, who was unhappy with his professionalism.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently revealed that Barcelona and Rashford had “almost agreed” personal terms ahead of a potential summer transfer from Man Utd with the Catalan giants having a €30m (£26m) release clause.

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “The point on Rashford is that personal terms are almost agreed between Rashford and Barcelona. As I always mentioned, with the elections at Barcelona nothing is going to happen this month in terms of club-to-club negotiations between Barcelona and Manchester United. So we have to wait for those stages where Barcelona can actually reach an agreement with Manchester United.

“What I can tell you today is that if Barcelona don’t pay the €30m, the message from Manchester United is clear: the player comes back and they will have plenty of clubs interested in signing Rashford after he did very well at Barcelona.

“United feel very relaxed. Either Barcelona pay the €30m or they are prepared to sell the player elsewhere in the summer. From Barcelona they are also quite relaxed because they already have an agreement with Rashford and the contract is almost ready.

“Financially they have to see the timing of the negotiation with Manchester United to reach an agreement on the final fee. But from United there is no intention to negotiate. Barcelona have to pay this money if they want to keep Rashford, otherwise the situation will be different in the summer.

“Reaching an agreement with the player is already a very important step, and I think there are very good chances to see Rashford staying at Barcelona for the long term.”

However, a report in Spanish publication Cadena Ser insists that the €3om buyout clause in Rashford’s loan deal at Barcelona ‘expired this March’.

Barcelona ‘has not informed United that it is executing this option and the future of the Englishman is more uncertain than ever.’

Cadena Ser adds: ‘The agreement between clubs established that Barça had to communicate during the month of March whether this option was effective. This term has passed, and at the same time the possibility of carrying out the operation for this series has also disappeared, along with all the conditions that it implied, a fact that does not prevent Barça from finally purchasing it for a similar price.

‘From now on, any negotiation will take place from zero to a fixed price, which gives the English club margin to redefine the various economic requirements based on the performance of the player and the market, but which is also included in a measure of pressure on the part of Barça, which complies with the design of l’anglès de continuar de Blaugrana.’

Barcelona are ‘renegotiating the operation’ from the bottom with Man Utd with the ‘internal feeling is that the operation is open but not to be a priority’.