Marcus Rashford: Man Utd await Barcelona’s £26m transfer decision

Manchester United are set to make Marcus Rashford’s move permanent as Barcelona await word on whether they want to trigger the £26m clause.

The Spanish champions have a June 15 deadline to activate the deal following the 28-year-old’s loan spell last season.

So far, there has been no official contact between the clubs. However, speculation has intensified over the past 24 hours that Barca will opt against completing the deal.

Barcelona – who are sticking to the decision at the start of next week – have already paid £69.3m for Newcastle forward Anthony GordonWho is competing with Rashford for England’s starting place at the World Cup.

United have repeatedly said they are unwilling to renegotiate and even sources close to the player believe the deadline will pass without a deal.

Perhaps, this could put Rashford and the Old Trafford club in a difficult position.

He has United’s most lucrative contract, which runs until 2028, and minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to reduce the top-tier amount paid to the first-team squad.

Last summer, Rashford was placed in the ‘bomb squad’ by former boss Ruben Amorim before taking him on loan to Barcelona.

However, his relationship with Michael Carrick runs much deeper, as he is a former team-mate, coach and – for three games after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021 – manager of one of United’s recent academy stars and is currently the club’s 15th all-time top scorer.

When Carrick was asked about Rashford in April, he said no decision had been made about the forward’s future.

He added “the people who are here, I want to work with them and help them improve”.

The June 15 deadline has passed, but there is some breathing room with the situation.

Rashford will be entitled to three weeks off when England’s World Cup campaign ends.

It means the Three Lions will not return to United’s Carrington training ground until the first week of August before a week-long training camp in the Republic of Ireland, before a pre-season clash with Paris Saint-Germain in Gothenburg on August 8 if the Three Lions go through to the quarter-finals.

That suggests a period of time to resolve his future, with many sources suggesting that a return to Barcelona on a different deal than where he is currently is not out of the question.