“It’s true…” What Barcelona said about Marcus Rashford’s loan transfer speaks volumes

What Barcelona sporting director Deco has said about the potential signing of Marcus Rashford has spoken volumes about his future transfer chances to La Liga.

Marcus Rashford embarked on a six-month loan move to Aston Villa last month and made his debut over the weekend in an FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur.

Once the focal point of Manchester United’s attack, Rashford enjoyed a standout 30-goal season under Erik ten Hag in 2022/23. However, his form has since dipped, and he struggled for regular minutes under Rúben Amorim.

With Amad and Bruno Fernandes now key figures, Rashford had gone over six weeks without featuring before securing his move to Villa Park.

A graduate of United’s academy, he burst onto the scene at 18 with a dream debut, scoring twice against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League before adding another brace against Arsenal in the Premier League.

Since then, he has made over 420 appearances for United, scoring 138 goals and providing 63 assists, while winning five major trophies.

What Deco said about Rashford

Although Rashford has ended up staying in the Premier League, there was a period in January where it looked for certain that the winger would be spending the remainder of the season outside England, with his preferred destination Barcelona.

However, sporting director Deco has now confirmed that although they did hold talks for the player, they weren’t desperately looking for players.

“The winter market is always difficult, it is true that in the past there were important moments for Barça, such as the arrival of Davids, but there is no Davids available today in the market,” he recently said in Spain.

“It’s difficult because the good players, the ones who can contribute, are not available. It’s true that there was talk of Rashford, who could have come, but we weren’t desperately looking for a player either.

“We knew that we were recovering players, that others were going to reach their best version. If I had been able to come it would have been fine, but it was not a priority.”

Rashford’s chances of a Barcelona move

As Deco explained, Barcelona have players who are returning from injury, and therefore they were not looking to add to many new players to their ranks in January.

Read More: Manchester United target is “very keen” on Old Trafford move, Ruben Amorim is a “big driver” for deal

With Barcelona’s front line containing some exciting attacking talent such as Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, and Raphinha, it’s hard to imagine that the side would be wanting another star attacker in the summer.

If they did, it would likely be a striker to replace 36-year-old Polish forward Lewandowski, but even then, he has 31 goals in 33 appearances this season.

Deco’s words speak to the fact that Rashford’s chance of a dream move to Barcelona is small, as if they did not want to bring him in on loan, it’s likely they would not want to sign him permanently unless there are some major changes to their squad.

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