Barcelona add former player to shortlist of Marcus Rashford alternatives | OneFootball

As well as signing a centre-back and striker, Barcelona must also address the situation with Marcus Rashford this summer. The Manchester United loanee is increasingly unlikely to sign on permanently at the Spotify Camp Nou, and if a new loan cannot be agreed upon, the Catalans will be forced into securing the services of a replacement.

In recent weeks, the likes of Andreas Schjelderup, Jan Virgili and Victor Munoz have emerged as players that Barcelona are keeping an eye on, and they have now added a new name to this list of possible Rashford replacements. As per ESPN, Ez Abde is another left winger that the La Liga leaders are interested in ahead of the summer.

Abde initially joined Barcelona in the summer of 2021, and he spent two years in Catalonia before joining Real Betis in a deal worth €7.5m. They also managed to retain 50% of his rights, although this dropped to 20% last year as part of an agreement between the two clubs to allow Vitor Roque to terminate his Los Verdiblancos loan early in order for him to join Palmeiras.

After a somewhat underwhelming firs couple of seasons at Betis, Abde has come into his own in 2025-26. He has nine goals and seven assists across all competitions, and he has increasingly become a focal point for Manuel Pellegrini’s side on the left wing.

Barcelona have already seen buy-back clause expire

As part of the agreement with Betis in 2023, Barcelona had retained two buy-back options for Abde. However, these have both expired, with their ability to sign him for €20m or €25m having run out in 2024 and 2025 respectively, meaning they will need to pay full price to bring him back to the Spotify Camp Nou – although they will still make a 20% saving, as per the rights they still have from last year’s re-negotiated deal.

It will be interesting to see whether Barcelona step up their interest in Abde over the coming weeks. He would be an excellent option to compete alongside Raphinha, although they may have to face competition from Paris Saint-Germain, who have also been linked with the Morocco international.