WHAT does the future hold for Marcus Rashford? Once among the most coveted players in the Premier League, the 27-year-old is in danger of becoming one of the forgotten men of English football. Rashford is no longer considered to be a must for the England squad and he has clearly lost his way at Manchester United. In some ways, he does reflect the malaise that seems to have descended upon United in recent years. Rashford is valued at around € 60 million by **Transfermarkt,** a significant decline on his peak value of approximately € 85 million (2023). News reports suggest United are looking for £ 40 million for a player they have nurtured since he was a boy. He is currently under contract until June 2028. He is, allegedly, paid around £ 300,000 a week by United, which may prove to be a deterrant for many clubs. He is, however, a player with 60 England caps to his name, but it does appear as though he is at the crossroads of his career.
MANCHESTER CITY’s poor run of results continued in Turin as Pep Guardiola’s side went down 2-0 against Juventus. This was their seventh defeat in 10 and their third Champions League game without a win. City were beaten by two second half goals from Dušan Vlahović and Weston McKennie. Guardiola told the BBC: “We played really, really good…I am so proud for these players. They give everything and they tried and now we live in this period and hopefully we can change results.” The other English clubs all won in the sixth matchday, Arsenal beating Monaco 3-0, Aston Villa 3-2 winners in Leipzig and Liverpool sneaking home 1-0 in Girona. Many of the big guns all won – Real Madrid 3-2 at Atalanta (Bellingham on the scoresheet again), Barcelona 3-2 at Dortmund and Bayern 5-1 against Shakhtar Donetsk. Paris Saint-Germain, whose Champions League form has been very patchy, won 3-0 at Red Bull Salzburg.
SHEFFIELD United’s sale to US investors is on hold as the club challenges for promotion back to the Premier League. The current owner, Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, has identified the prospect of a big cash windfall should the club go up. He had earlier agreed the £ 105 million sale to Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, a transaction that has been approved by the EFL. Sheffield United are currently top of the Championship. Rosen and Eltoukhy are becoming very frustrated by the delay and now there is some uncertainty about the deal ever going ahead. Abdullah bought a 50% stake in the club in 2013 and took full control in 2018. Sheffield United has been up for sale for around two years.
FRENCH club Lille have generated the highest positive balance in player trading over the past decade. Lille’s net balance from the turnover of non-academy players since 2015 amounts to € 384 million, according to **CIES Football Observatory**. Behind Lille are Ajax, RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt, Atalanta and Benfica. The clubs with the highest negative balance are Paris Saint-Germain (- € 646 million), Manchester United (-€ 584 million) and Chelsea (-€ 580 million). Three clubs have spent over € 1 billion since 2015, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.
Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a broad range of subjects. [View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen](https://gameofthepeople.com/author/georgefjord/)