Manchester United are due to have Marcus Rashford report for pre-season this summer because the England international wanted to wait on completing a transfer until after the World Cup
Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford's hopes of signing for Barcelona appear to be as good as over(Image: Europa Press via Getty Images)
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Karim Adeyemi is reportedly due to be in Barcelona on Wednesday as the Catalan club closes in on signing another forward not named Marcus Rashford.
Anthony Gordon has already joined the La Liga champions, and they are now said to be finalising one more addition. United have previously been credited with an interest in the Germany international, who has less than 12 months remaining on his Borussia Dortmund contract.
Barcelona are reputedly acquiring Adeyemi for around the same amount they could have paid to make Rashford's loan move permanent. That will seemingly dash the England international's dreams of a return.
At his unveiling last summer, Rashford described Barcelona as "a club where dreams come true". However, they did not exercise a £26million option to sign him permanently before it expired earlier this summer.
SPORT reports that they have now agreed a £25million deal with Dortmund for Adeyemi. Of that fee, £6million is said to be in add-ons, making it an even better value deal than the one they had in place with United.
The move means Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick will have the chance to work with Adeyemi again. He gave the forward his senior Germany debut while in charge of the national team.
He brought Adeyemi into the first team fold as a 19-year-old. Flick handed the forward his first three caps before taking him to the 2022 World Cup.
Now aged 24, four years younger than Rashford, 28, Adeyemi will seemingly sign a five-year contract. That is the same length deal as Gordon penned before this year's World Cup began.
His international teammate has said he wants to focus fully on this summer's tournament. That is why he has delayed any decisions about his future, having been unable to resolve it beforehand, as Barcelona decided against signing him permanently back in mid-June.
Rashford has said during the tournament: "I was very clear. I wanted any move to be done before the World Cup. If it's not, I wanted it to wait until after. I want to be fully present in the moment."
Whatever the result of England's World Cup semi-final against Argentina, their tournament will not end until this weekend. The final is on Sunday, but even if the Three Lions lose, they still have a match for third place on Saturday.
Rashford will be due to report for training with United this pre-season unless a move can be agreed before the end of an extended break that will follow his participation at the World Cup. He has two years remaining on the £325,000-per-week contract he signed three years ago.