Rashford joins Barca on initial loan after Man Utd relationship sours

Marcus Rashford completed his move to Barcelona on Wednesday.

Rashford's season-long loan deal includes an option to buy worth €30 million, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano.

Barcelona will cover the forward's full salary during the 2025-26 season, reports David Ornstein of The Athletic. He'll reportedly earn £245,000 per week while he's in Catalonia.

"I want to win the biggest trophies and feel like Barcelona is a huge club in the football world, so it is the perfect place," Rashford said at his unveiling, according to BBC Sport. "You see with the team last season, they have a young ambitious team and I want to add my qualities, my personality, improve the team, and help them win."

Rashford's time at Manchester United was tainted by accusations that he lacked professionalism and had lost the drive to perform for his boyhood club.

The door isn't completely closed on Rashford returning to Old Trafford while he's on loan in Spain, but it's hard to imagine him playing again for United while Ruben Amorim is in charge.

Rashford had well-documented disciplinary issues during the reign of Amorim's predecessor, Erik ten Hag, but he briefly appeared to be back on track when he scored 80 seconds into the Portuguese coach's first match at the helm Nov. 24, 2024. Rashford and Amorim's relationship quickly deteriorated thereafter. He didn't play a minute for the club after a 2-1 win at Viktoria Plzen on Dec. 12, 2024, amid reports that he was available for transfer.

Amorim famously said he'd rather select his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach in the starting lineup rather than a player "that doesn't give the maximum every day" when he was questioned about omitting Rashford.

"Our team should be so much better with Rashford, but he has to change," Amorim added on Rashford's apparently poor effort in training days before the forward joined Aston Villa at the end of the winter transfer window.

Rashford, 27, scored four goals and logged five assists over 17 appearances while on loan at Aston Villa. He provided flashes of inspiration during his spell with the club, including when he almost helped Unai Emery's side launch an improbable comeback in the second leg of its Champions League quarterfinal against Paris Saint-Germain.

The English attacker was earning more than £325,000 per week at United. Villa covered 75% of his wages and performance-related bonuses during his half-season loan spell, The Athletic's Laurie Whitewell reports. Like the rest of the Manchester United squad, Rashford's salary dropped by 25% after the team's failure to qualify for the Champions League, according to The Telegraph's James Ducker.

"The situation with United is the club is in a period of change and they have been for a while. I don't have anything bad to say as it has been an important part not just of my career but my life. So I was grateful for the opportunity," Rashford said.

He added, "I have nothing bad to say about United. I wish them all the best and hope they are successful in the future."

Barca's financial commitment to the season-long deal - believed to be around £12.75 million (€14.7 million) - could be construed as a sign of their trust that Rashford will return to his best. But it could also be interpreted as the club taking desperate measures after its links with Athletic Bilbao's Nico Williams and Liverpool's Luis Diaz failed to result in a transfer.

Rashford can fulfill any role across the attack but regularly operated from the left for United, where he would try to wreak havoc via dribbles into the 18-yard box from his wide position. However, he scored five goals and assisted twice in the seven matches he started as a center-forward last season, according to WhoScored.

Barcelona's strikeforce last season regularly featured Lamine Yamal and Raphinha on either side of veteran striker Robert Lewandowski. Hansi Flick's team won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa de Espana but was eliminated in the Champions League semifinals by Inter Milan.