An agent has expressed his disbelief that Marcus Rashford earned a loan move to Barcelona after struggling at Manchester United, as England head coach Thomas Tuchel gives advice to the forward on how to revive his career.
Rashford joined LaLiga giants Barcelona on a season-long loan deal from Man Utd in the summer of 2025. TEAMtalk’s transfer correspondent, Fraser Fletcher, has long reported that Rashford’s long-term dream has always been to play for Barcelona, and it eventually came true.
TEAMtalk understands that Barcelona have the option to make Rashford’s loan deal permanent for £26million (€30m, $35.1m) next summer.
According to The Sun, Barcelona will certainly trigger that option to sign Rashford permanently, with last season’s LaLiga winners of the opinion that it would be ‘a bargain’.
Rashford struggled in the latter years of his career at Man Utd, but he stepped up his game at Aston Villa during a loan spell in the second half of last season.
The England international forward scored four goals and gave six assists in 17 appearances for Villa, and his revival has continued at Barcelona.
The 27-year-old has scored three goals and registered five assists in 10 appearances for Barcelona so far in the 2025/26 campaign, but an agent has expressed his shock to The Athletic that he earned a move to the defending Spanish champions in the first place.
While looking at the most surprising deal of the summer transfer window, The Athletic noted: “More than one agent flagged Marcus Rashford’s loan from Manchester United to Barcelona, with one admitting: ‘I just don’t understand how on earth he’s pulled that move off, really.’”
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What Thomas Tuchel has said about Marcus Rashford
Rashford is a regular for England, having scored 18 goals in 64 appearances for the Three Lions.
England manager Thomas Tuchel is a huge fan of the forward, but the former Chelsea boss has made it clear that the 27-year-old needs to continue to work hard and get even better.
The Independent quotes Tuchel as saying about Rashford: “He can be one of the best in the world because the quality I see in training, the finishing with both legs and with the head.
“He is explosive, he is fast, he is strong in the air, so where are the limits? There are no limits – but the numbers don’t reach the potential, it is as easy as that.
“He needs to push himself into goal involvements, that means goals and assists, it is as easy as that.”
On Rashford’s decision to join Barcelona, Tuchel said: “I didn’t know if he pushed himself; I don’t know if ‘admire’ is the right word.
“I can feel him for him and I thought in my first camp that it would help him if he felt my support for him. He was at Aston Villa at the time.
“I think that was quite a bold move, because to go in a working team, and a team that was well settled, and played a hard-working style, I think that was a very, very good move for him and he settled in very quickly.
“And for the work-rate against the ball, I selected him. And still, he had not as many goals and not as many goal involvements as he could have.
“He creates quite a lot of chances, but for the quality and finishing that we see with training, he just doesn’t score enough, so that’s the next step.
“I think that is the headline for him [consistency]. To keep on pushing himself to the limit. I think the limit for him is very, very high. Maybe higher than for others.
“He has the potential, but potential is a dangerous word with high-level sports. You have to reach your personal best on a regular basis.
“That is what is demanded on this kind of level, and that is the challenge for him. It’s not a question of talent, it’s a question of whether he can prove the point at club and international level.
“This is his task, whether he starts for us or comes off the bench, he has to constantly prove himself.”
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Latest Man Utd news: Mainoo reaction in training, Wharton blow
While Rashford has already left Man Utd, Kobbie Mainoo could depart from Old Trafford in the January transfer window.
Sources have told TEAMtalk that Mainoo is considering a loan exit from Man Utd in the middle of the season, as manager Ruben Amorim continues to overlook him for a place in the starting line-up.
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has revealed how Mainoo has reacted to Amorim’s decision in Man Utd training.
Romano has also revealed whether Man Utd would be able to convince Crystal Palace to sell them Adam Wharton in the January transfer window.
And finally, a top Man Utd star is ready to stay at Old Trafford and turn down the chance of a lifetime to earn big money if two conditions are met.
POLL: How many goals will Marcus Rashford score on loan at Barcelona?