Barcelona sign Man Utd forward Rashford on loan

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has completed a season-long loan move to La Liga club Barcelona.

The 27-year-old joins on an initial 12-month loan, with the Catalan giants having the option of signing the England international on a permanent basis for £30.3m (35m euros) in 2026.

Barcelona will cover the entirety of Rashford's wages during his time at the club after the forward agreed to take a pay cut.

Removing Rashford from the wage bill is expected to save United between £14-£15m over the next 12 months.

The England international trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Tuesday and is expected to be included in the squad that travels to Japan for a pre-season tour of Asia on Thursday.

The move, Rashford's second loan spell since last playing for United in December, sees the forward leave the Premier League for the first time.

Rashford has scored 138 goals in 426 matches for Manchester United since making his debut for the club in 2016.

He is 15th on the club's all-time scorers list, having emerged from United's academy.

Rashford's departure from Old Trafford has been a relatively long time coming.

Manager Ruben Amorim dropped him for the Manchester derby on 15 December last year - and he has not played for United since.

Amorim later criticised Rashford for a perceived lack of effort, suggesting that he would rather give a place on the bench to his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach than someone who "doesn't give the maximum every day".

He joined Aston Villa on loan in January, making 17 appearances and earning an England recall, but returned to Old Trafford last month with his long-term future still uncertain.

However, that uncertainty has been more about where he would go rather than whether he would stay, with Rashford one of five players who told the club they wanted to leave - and who were subsequently told to train separately from the rest of the squad.

But Rashford's problems at Old Trafford pre-dated Amorim.

After signing a new five-year deal at the club in 2023 - following a stellar 30-goal season the campaign before - Rashford's form dropped dramatically.

He managed just eight goals in 43 appearances in 2023/24 and was disciplined three times in 13 months by manager Erik ten Hag.

Rashford was dropped for an away trip to Wolves after turning up late for a team meeting, while he then apologised to the Dutchman for attending a pre-arranged birthday party hours after a 3-0 home defeat by Manchester City.

The forward was then dropped for an FA Cup tie against Newport after reporting ill for training after being pictured partying in nightclubs in Belfast.

There is no doubt a fully-motivated, focused and determined Marcus Rashford would walk into Ruben Amorim's team.

But, in reality, that Rashford has only been seen for one full season since 2021 and the campaign that led to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer getting sacked.

There were signs of the old Rashford during his half season loan at Villa - but there were also games where he didn't perform so well.

Offloading an unwanted player to Barcelona is bizarre for a club in Manchester United's position. But that is where they are right now. What they have to do is maximise the opportunity.

At Old Trafford, they cannot worry about optics. They have to deliver a squad Amorim can drive up the table.