Man Utd ‘accept’ shock new Marcus Rashford swap with Barcelona – report | OneFootball

Barcelona’s unwillingness to simply activate their option to buy Marcus Rashford has resulted in Manchester United proposing a cash-plus-player bid, according to a report.

Barcelona want to retain Rashford outright, with the 28-year-old more than proving his worth during a successful loan spell so far.

Rashford has bagged 23 goal contributions (10 goals, 13 assists), and can be signed to a permanent deal if Barcelona pay €30m (£26m, $35m).

But while Rashford has all but agreed personal terms with the Spanish side and there’s a strong desire to continue the relationship from all parties, Barca are playing games on the club-to-club side of the deal.

talkSPORT recently claimed Barcelona had proposed a second loan, which would allow the club to delay paying Man Utd the €30m fee for another 12 months.

And after winning re-election as Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta also touted a second loan stint for Rashford.

Laporta explained: “We could extend (Rashford’s) loan further. It depends on what [sporting director] Deco wants.

“There are formulas, such as paying part of the buy option to Manchester United and figuring out the rest later.”

Man Utd have made it crystal clear there’ll be no second loan, and also no re-negotiation of the €30m option to a lower sum.

However, the latest coming out of Spain states Man Utd are prepared to seal a deal for a lower sum on one condition – they’re able to bring midfielder, Marc Casado, the other way.

It’s claimed Man Utd are ‘accepting’ a €10m plus Casado deal in exchange for Rashford.

Man Utd will say yes to that formula, and whether a deal gets done under these new conditions is now up to Barcelona.

Casado, 22, is a defensive midfielder by trade and United are well known to be on the hunt for new blood in the engine room this summer.

Casado has featured 28 times for Barca this year, though many of those appearances haven’t been starts.

Nevertheless, he remains a highly regarded graduate of the famed La Masia academy and the report stated Barca won’t take a decision on whether to offload Casado as part of the Rashford swap lightly.

If Casado were to arrive at Old Trafford, it would not be at the expense of Man Utd moving for higher profile midfield targets.

United’s top three targets in central areas, as has been well documented, are Elliot Anderson, Carlos Baleba and Adam Wharton.

Manuel Ugarte has genuine chances to leave United at season’ end, and as it stands, there is no U-turn on Casemiro who remains on course to leave via free agency.

In other news, outside voices from former Unitedstars will have absolutely no influence on the club when they decide on their next permanent manager, sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk, and with the latest on Michael Carrick’s chances and the five other names who have come up for discussion now emerging.

Elsewhere, Man Utd have been told they have a clear advantage over Arsenal in the race to sign Leon Goretzka this summer, with a journalist having explained why the presence of three players at the Gunners will likely dissuade the Bayern Munich star from heading to Emirates Stadium.