Barcelona will allegedly be unable to make an approach for AC Milan forward Rafael Leao if Marcus Rashford remains at the club.
During the summer transfer window, the Catalan giants pulled off the high-profile loan addition of the Manchester United forward.
Rashford has since starred for the La Liga outfit, contributing five goals and seven assists from his 13 appearances in all competitions.
While the 27-year-old has stated on more than one occasion that he would like to remain at Barcelona in the long term, the Spanish side are yet to determine their own stance.
Reports have suggested that a buy option in the region of £30m can be activated to sign Rashford on a permanent basis at the end of the season.
Rafael Leao of AC Milan - August 17, 2025
Rashford stay to have ramifications for Leao?
In the background, Barcelona are said to retain an interest in Leao, who has been at San Siro since August 2019 without earning a switch to a club of a marginally higher profile.
According to Sport, AC Milan's firm stance at the negotiating table during the summer was the reason why Barcelona ultimately looked elsewhere.
The report acknowledges that Luis Diaz - now at Bayern Munich - was targeted once it became apparent that AC Milan would not part ways with Leao for anything less than the £70m (€79.67m) bracket.
As a result, it appears highly likely that it would take Rashford returning to Man United at the end of 2025-26 for Barcelona to reignite their interest in Leao.
The Portugal international only returned from a calf injury at the end of September, yet he has still contributed four goals from five appearances in all competitions this season.
With a contract in place until 2028, though, AC Milan do not have to consider any lowball offers, realistically handing the advantage to Rashford when it comes to his bid to remain at Camp Nou.
Barcelona's Marcus Rashford pictured on September 18, 2025
Barcelona financial issues to restrict transfer activity?
Recently, it was revealed that Barcelona still owe a staggering £138m in transfer fees, a large portion of that needing to be resolved over the next eight months.
As such, it remains plausible that Rashford could still miss out on a full-time switch to the club if those issues are not sorted.
A major sale of a first-team star would help matters, but Hansi Flick has made full use of his squad this campaign with regular rotation.
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