Manchester United have offered Marcus Rashford to Arsenal after his permanent switch to Barcelona fell through, and with Mikel Arteta approving the sale of one of his own wingers, a stunning swap is now possible.
Barcelona have neglected the opportunity to activate their option to buy Rashford outright. The option was set at €30m / £26m, though Barca are content to let the clause expire in four days’ time without triggering the deal.
Rashford, 28, has no future back at Man Utd who are determined to offload the wide man.
Reports have claimed Bayern Munich could be willing to offer €40m / £34.5m now Rashford is back on the open market, and after missing out on Anthony Gordon and failing to lure Rio Ngumoha away from Liverpool.
However, our insider, Graeme Bailey, brought news on Thursday of Rashford being offered to clubs much closer to home.
London pair, Arsenal and Chelsea, have both been offered the winger’s services. At this stage, sources tell us nothing is advanced, with the contact exploratory for now.
However, a recent report from talkSPORT declared Arsenal boss Arteta has got ‘ruthless’ and stuck Gabriel Martinelli up for sale.
Arteta wants to build a dynasty at the Emirates and believes Martinelli, 24, is a player the Gunners can improve upon in the market.
That followed a report from the Athletic, that confirmed the Brazilian’s future is uncertain in north London right now.
READ NEXT:30-cap Spain star ‘open to transfer’ as Arsenal get fresh hope of sealing dream Arteta signing
Man Utd, Arsenal could swap Marcus Rashford, Gabriel Martinelli
And according to the latest from The Sun, it’s now possible Arsenal and Man Utd solve each other’s problems by swapping Rashford for Martinelli.
They explained: ‘Marcus Rashford’s future remains up in the air after reports suggested Barcelona will not trigger their £26million option to sign the Manchester United forward permanently.
‘That could open the door for Arsenal, who are still in the market for a left-winger amid uncertainty surrounding Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
‘If Martinelli were to leave north London this summer, Arsenal could even explore using the Brazilian as part of a deal for Rashford.
‘The move would draw comparisons with the Alexis Sanchez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan swap between the two clubs back in January 2018.’
Want more breaking news and transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Googleto your favourites list for news you can trust.
In Rashford, Arsenal would be landing a more explosive and potent player than Martinelli who can make an instant impact at a team looking to win the game’s biggest prizes right now.
Man Utd, meanwhile, would get a talented winger in Martinelli who is four years younger, who could still improve during his prime years, and who would be on far lower wages than Rashford’s £325,000-a-week salary.
The move would make sense in that regard, though as noted, nothing is advanced with Rashford right now so soon after his dream of returning to Barcelona crumbled.
DON’T MISS: Barcelona say YES to selling major star to Man Utd; advancing Newcastle deal could now collapse