Man Utd stunned as Barcelona completely change Marcus Rashford terms | OneFootball

Barcelona are still aiming to sign Marcus Rashford permanently from Manchester United, but they are not planning to activate their €30million (£26m) option to buy, according to a senior reporter.

Rashford started a new chapter in his career last summer by joining Barcelona on a season-long loan from Man Utd. The forward has left a big impression on Barca boss Hansi Flick since then, registering 13 goals and 13 assists in 45 matches so far this term.

But Barca’s financial issues have sparked talk the Blaugrana might try to sign a cheaper winger than Rashford.

Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg has provided the latest on the England international’s situation.

Plettenberg states that Barca are ‘pushing for a second loan for Rashford’, and that discussions with United are ‘ongoing’.

Barca ‘do not want to trigger the €30m option to buy’. If they cannot re-sign Rashford on a second loan spell, they ‘want to negotiate the fee down’.

Plettenberg adds: ‘In any case, Rashford should stay. Approved by Hansi Flick.’

United are highly unlikely to accept anything less than €30m for Rashford. While the 28-year-old is not in INEOS’ plans, his value has risen thanks to him reigniting his career in LaLiga.

At this stage, a second loan appears most likely. Rashford’s contract with United expires in June 2028, so the summer of 2027 will represent United’s last opportunity to cash in at a reasonable price.

Rashford could be followed out of Old Trafford by a host of players this summer, including Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Andre Onana and Jadon Sancho.

We confirmed on March 27 that he remains fully committed to Barca, despite uncertainty over his Nou Camp future.

We understand Rashford has already agreed to take a pay cut as he looks to join the Catalan giants permanently.

Tottenham Hotspur have been tipped to swoop in if Barca fail to re-sign Rashford.

Over the weekend, talkSPORT presenter Angelina Kelly suggested he could become a new ‘poster boy’ for Arsenal.

“Whether they [Arsenal] are trophyless or they bottle it or not, it’s never too early to think about recruitment,” Kelly said.

“I think that this could be a cracking deal for them. Reason one, you look at Arsenal’s left-wing options, they haven’t been the best.

“[Leandro] Trossard’s goals have dried up in 2026. [Noni] Madueke hasn’t been good enough and prefers to play on the right.

“Gabriel Martinelli, a few seasons ago, [he scored] 15 league goals in the 2022-23 season, but he seems to have been forced to stay wide and spend so much time running back and helping to defend.

“It’s actually a shame that you’ve got such a talented forward reduced to such a simplistic role, you could argue.

“I think that Arsenal need to sign a winger who maybe doesn’t want to defend, someone who breaks the rules a little bit and makes their own decisions, rather than following Mikel Arteta’s instructions to a tee.

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Rashford ‘could be the answer’ for Arsenal – presenter

“Rashford could be the answer, he doesn’t like to track back. So maybe they could compromise and get a winger then who does the appropriate amount of pressing and tracking back as per what Mikel Arteta wants, but still will want to do the important job of attacking.

“Having a player that stays up field and gets into the box is always a good thing.”

Kelly continued: “I know there was a lot of pressure on Rashford, he was the poster boy for Manchester United.

“Whilst that pressure was a lot and I think the media hate that he got and the hate on social media was far too much, some of the things on and off the pitch were irritating but it did go too far.

“I understand if he’d never want to play in England again because of those things, but I just think that there’s a little part of him that would enjoy not just being the super-sub at Barcelona coming off the bench.

“I think that he’d enjoy being a little bit of a poster boy for Arsenal. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka cover it mainly, but he can just have a little bit of that cake.”