Two European giants ‘tracking’ Marcus Rashford amid Manchester United swap talks for “exceptional” young star

Two European giants are reportedly monitoring Marcus Rashford’s performances while on loan at Aston Villa from Manchester United.

Manchester United are expected to sell Marcus Rashford this coming summer after he fell out of favour with Rúben Amorim earlier this season.

The 27-year-old left for Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the campaign, with the Premier League outfit installing a £40 million buy option to the contract.

After a good few performances off the bench, Rashford looks set to kick on for Villa, with many feeling that the £40 million option will be triggered at the end of the campaign.

However, Rashford joining Villa on a permanent basis would be far from a done deal, as he would still have to agree to a contract, which is far from guaranteed.

Two European giants tracking Rashford

Amid his potential for the rest of the campaign, former United chief scout Mick Brown, who remains well connected in that world, has explained he has heard that both La Liga’s Barcelona and German outfit Bayern Munich are tracking the player.

“I hear Barcelona and Bayern Munich are looking at him,” he told Football Insider. “If he keeps performing to his best level, it’s a three-way win-win-win situation.

“Villa win because they get a very good player for six months, Marcus wins because he has the opportunity to show off his talent and potential earn a big move. And at the end of the day, Man United win because they’re more likely to get their highest-paid player off the books rather than having an unhappy player at the club.

“If these top clubs are interested and they come in, his value will shoot up. United will look to drive his price tag up and make as much money as they can from him. Having these top teams interested will do them no harm at all.

“So then everybody’s a winner – but only if he keeps performing as well as he can. He’s certainly got enough in his locker, it’s just a question of if you can get it out of him, and I think he’s got to help himself by working hard to be the best he can be.

“So the likes of Bayern and Barcelona will be looking at him to see if he’s going to be at that level. It all depends what he can do while he’s at Villa, that’s the expectation.”

Rashford involved in Bayern swap deal

Amid Bayern’s reported interest, there has been a claim that United may look to add Rashford to a potential swap deal in the summer window with the Bundesliga outfit.

According to a report from last week, the Reds are actively “exploring” a swap deal that would see Rashford move to Bayern, with “exceptional” Aleksandar Pavlovic heading the other way.

It was claimed that United would need to include a “supplementary fee” in the deal as the German midfielder is valued slightly higher than Rashford’s £40 million price tag.

The 20-year-old has previously been described as a young Xavi, with Bayern’s president Herbert Hainer saying: “Pavlovic, with his calmness and passing accuracy, is sometimes reminiscent of the young Xabi Alonso.

“Both have everything it takes to become legends of FC Bayern.”

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