Barcelona are still open to signing Marcus Rashford permanently despite agreeing a £70m deal for fellow England forward Anthony Gordon. The La Liga champions have reportedly agreed a big-money deal to sign Gordon from Newcastle United.
Gordon, who has previously been linked with Liverpool and Arsenal, scored 17 goals last season, earning a call-up to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup. Bayern Munich appeared to be leading the race to sign Gordon, 25, but Barcelona hijacked the deal and are set to welcome the former Everton star to the Nou Camp.
Barcelona’s Summer Plans
Barcelona are keen to bolster Hansi Flick’s squad this summer despite a strong season in which they won La Liga and went deep in the Champions League. The Spanish champions have been linked with Chelsea’s Joao Pedro and Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez but Gordon will be their first marquee signing of the summer.
Gordon’s imminent move to the Nou Camp has raised question marks over Rashford’s future at Barcelona after his largely impressive loan spell. Rashford scored 14 goals and made ten assists during his loan and both manager Flick and sporting director Deco have spoken glowingly of the 28-year-old.
Rashford’s Situation
As part of the loan deal for Rashford, Barcelona have the option to sign him on a permanent deal from Manchester United for £26m. The Daily Mail reports that Barca bosses still intend to work on a deal for Rashford this week, although they are now keen to secure another loan.
Rashford has made it clear he wishes to stay at the Nou Camp and Manchester United have already decided to move on from the academy graduate despite the return of Michael Carrick as manager. If a deal with Barca cannot be struck, United will look at other avenues to sell Rashford amid interest from multiple domestic and foreign clubs.
Rene Meulensteen, who was Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Old Trafford, believes Carrick should try to bring Rashford back to the club this summer. ‘There is a route back for Marcus Rashford because Michael Carrick knows him,’ he told BoyleSports. ‘I think there is a really important conversation to be had, no two ways about it.’
‘Marcus has grown up as a little kid from Manchester. He’s Manchester United through and through. And for whatever reason, something has made him make the decision to move away. Maybe it has been good for him to move away for a while, just to have a look at it and look back at Manchester United from the outside in. It will also have given him the opportunity to realise how much Man United actually means to him. Because he knows Michael and Michael knows him, I think it’s definitely a good conversation that they should have. And then it all depends on what exactly the expectations are from both parties.’
Rashford, meanwhile, admitted he was unsure whether he would be a Barcelona player next season after helping the club clinch the La Liga title. ‘This is the perfect way I want it to end,’ Rashford told ESPN. ‘I’m very happy, I just want to enjoy today. I live in the moment. At the end of the season we will see. I came here to win and we do this, so I’m very happy. It’s an incredible feeling.’
‘The feeling is amazing. It’s been a long season with ups and downs, but I think we deserved to win La Liga.’ Asked in the mixed zone whether he would still be a Barcelona player come the start of next season, Rashford added: ‘I don’t know. I am not a magician, but if I was, I would stay. We will see. I came here to win. I want to win as many things as I can. This is one more to add to this. This is a wonderful team, they’re going to win so much in the future; to be a part of that would be special.’
