Marcus Rashford left off list of three players Barcelona are keen to sign | OneFootball

Speculation continues to grow that Barcelona will not exercise their buy option on Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford. The Blaugrana are looking to strengthen their forward line in the summer, but with uncertainty over how much of a budget they will have to do it with, Rashford could be a casualty.

For much of the season, Rashford has been praised by manager Hansi Flick, and he has publicly expressed a desire to remain at the club. Lately, it has been reported in the Catalan media that Barcelona are hoping to reduce Rashford’s price down from the €30m that they had agreed with United last summer. Yet from England, the word is that Rashford will not join Barcelona for less than the agreed fee.

Barcelona keen on signing Jan Virgili

As explained by El Chiringuito, Barcelona are keen on the idea of signing La Masia graduate Jan Virgili back from RCD Mallorca. The 19-year-old left for Los Bermellones last summer in a €3.5m deal, but Barcelona have a 50% sell-on fee, which would cheapen the deal if they were able to agree a fee with Mallorca. Asked about Rashford, Jose Alvarez said ‘We’ll see’.

Barcelona also keen to strengthen defence

Two other names mentioned by Alvarez are Inter centre-back Alessandro Bastoni and Bayer Leverkusen left-back Alejandro Grimaldo. The interest in the former is well-documented, but there have been contradictory reports on their interest in Grimaldo, who was offered to Barcelona last summer. Recent reports have indicated the Blaugrana will consider offers for current starter Alejandro Balde this summer.

The Blaugrana are also expected to try and bring in a number nine next summer as a long-term replacement for Robert Lewandowski. That deal, said to be a priority, is likely to impact on the rest of their dealings, and it is unlikely that Director of Football Deco has certainty at this point in proceedings.