Manchester United are undoubtedly closely monitoring the developments around Marcus Rashford at Barcelona, so his latest demotion will give the club headaches.
To complete another phase of their squad rebuild, Man Utd need Marcus Rashford to come off the books, not just because of his humongous salary, but also because of cash flow concerns.
Rashford is a £40m dilemma for Man Utd because of Barcelona’s financial situation and the option to buy, instead of an obligation.
Rashford’s efforts to make himself indispensable for Barcelona have now taken a huge hit as his squad status seems to have gone down permanently.
Marcus Rashford of FC Barcelona in action during the Spanish league, La Liga EA Sports, football match played between FC Barcelona and Deportivo Alaves at Spotify Camp Nou stadium on November 29, 2025
Photo By Javier Borrego/Europa Press via Getty Images
Marcus Rashford’s squad status demotion at Barcelona
Rashford has done extremely well for Barcelona so far, especially helping them in the Champions League with some match-winning displays.
He has done so while playing multiple positions, and still managing to be effective enough that he leads the assist charts in Spain along with Lamine Yamal.
However, he was doing so as, effectively, a squad player promoted to first-team regular status, and his performances during that time clearly weren’t enough for Hansi Flick to make that position his to lose.
That is because Rashford was on the bench in Barcelona’s 3-1 win against Alaves as Raphinha returned to the starting lineup after recovering from a two-month-long absence.
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The Brazilian took Rashford’s place on the left, was made captain, and assisted a goal during his 60 minutes on the pitch as he ramps up his fitness.
Combine that with Dani Olmo’s brace in the No. 10 position, Robert Lewandowski being the starting No. 9, Lamine Yamal being undroppable, and Fermin Lopez returning from an injury in a week or two, and Rashford’s minutes are set to be cut further.
Rashford’s status is a headache for Man Utd
United and Rashford were unexpectedly thrown a bone when a glut of injuries raised the Englishman’s importance to Flick.
It can be argued that he took that chance with both hands, but Flick has been loyal to the players who have served him well.
It leaves Rashford in a perilous situation because Barcelona are unlikely to pay £25m and big wages for a player who is, at best, a rotation player.
More importantly, they know Rashford doesn’t want to go anywhere except Barcelona, so they will try to let the buy option expire and negotiate another loan.
That is the worst-case scenario for United, because they can’t be stuck with Rashford for another summer window while their own rebuild is on hold.
In all these developments, United emerge as the biggest losers, because Rashford might force himself to Barcelona for another move, the Spanish club will be happy with it, and United will be on the hook for another year of loan.
They need Rashford to make himself undeniable again, this time as a rotation player.