Marcus Rashford has made a shock transfer U-turn despite being ‘given the green light’ to Barcelona from Manchester United this summer.
Rashford moved to Aston Villa on loan in January from United and has largely impressed, contributing four goals and six assists for Unai Emery’s side, who hold a £40m option to make his loan move permanent.
Whether the Villans will take up that option, or even be able to afford it, will likely depend on whether they finish in the Premier League top five and qualify for the Champions League next season, but it will be Rashford’s decision in any case.
Reports have claimed the England international has been making moves to secure his dream transfer to Barcelona.
He was linked with a move to the Catalan giants in January, but they were put off by his £350,000 per week wages, which Villa are currently paying 75 per cent of.
Rashford though has told Barcelona that he’s willing to take a significant pay-cut in order to make the move happen.
A report earlier this month stated:
‘His great goal is to try to play for Barça and his environment has already sent to the Blaugrana leaders that he is willing to lower his salary ostensibly so that the operation can be viable from an economic point of view. Barça is his favorite project and he will do everything possible to dress in Blaugrana.
Rashford then took the ‘stretegic step of entrusting his affairs to a high-profile, highly experienced agent with strong ties to FC Barcelona: Pini Zahavi.’
He will also have been pleased to hear Barcelona sporting director Deco admitting the La Liga giants are lacking depth in wide areas, despite his insistence that “the key is to consolidate”.
Deco said: “If we can improve, that’s always an option, but the key is to consolidate what we have for the coming years.
“Suddenly we feel quite dependent on Raphinha and Lamine. Maybe we need similar players, a solution for them [when they’re not available],” the Portuguese confessed.
“But the squad is quite balanced and we have a lot of good players coming through the youth teams as well.”
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But in quite the U-turn, the Daily Express now claim Rashford has been persuaded to remain at Villa Park, while it’s thought the Villans may look to negotiate the £40m option down in talks with United.
The report states:
‘Villa have a £40million option to make the move permanent, although their transfer plans could hinge on which European competition they qualify for. Rashford had looked favourably upon a prospective move to Barcelona in the winter, but Express Sport understands that a successful spell working with manager Unai Emery – under whom he has scored four goals and registered five assists – has swayed him towards staying at Villa Park.
‘Rashford will have a say on his next move but whether or not he makes a permanent switch to the West Midlands is not entirely down to him. Villa may yet try to negotiate their £40m option down, but the major sticking point is his whopping £350,000-a-week wage.’