MARCUS RASHFORD’S dream Barcelona move is set to become a reality after Manchester United agreed to a deal.
Barcelona have made an approach for a loan with an option for the England international, who has been told he is no longer required at Old Trafford.
Barcelona are getting closer to signing Manchester United outcast Marcus RashfordClive Brunskill/Getty Images
A loan deal for Rashford is at its ‘final stages’ with Man Utd and Barcelona considering a buy optionConor Molloy/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock
The Spanish giants will even cover 100 per cent of his £325,000-a-week wages to bring him to LaLiga.
That agreement will save the club around £15million in wages, key for Ruben Amorim as he looks to overhaul the squad.
United, who need to clear out a number of players Amorim has no interest in keeping, have agreed to sanction a move away on loan though the deal is not fully done yet.
All parties are hopeful of wrapping up a deal within a week as United travel to America for the Premier League Summer Series on Tuesday, while Barcelona begin their pre-season tour of Asia on July 27.
Rashford spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, who covered the majority of his wages, after a move to Spain became too complicated in the January window.
The United academy graduate has been training at Carrington along with the rest of Ruben Amorim’s bomb squad, including Antony and Alejandro Garnacho.
Rashford has long made it clear his desired move was Barcelona, though the Spanish side were also weighing up a move for Liverpool‘s Luis Diaz.
Asked last month if he would like to play with Barca superstar Lamine Yamal, Rashford said: “Yes, for sure.
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“Everyone wants to play with the best. Hopefully… we’ll see.”
Having missed out on the dream move in January, Rashford opted for a shock switch to Villa Park.
While his impact was limited in the Premier League, the 27-year-old shone in the Champions League – especially as Unai Emery‘s side ran Paris Saint-Germain close in their quarter-final second leg.
Should the move go to plan and Rashford seal a permanent move next summer it would end a 20-year association with Manchester United.
Rashford has scored 138 goals in 426 appearances for the club, winning a Europa League, two FA Cups and two League Cups.
The forward was given an England olive branch by Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel in March.
A move to Barcelona and back into the Champions League could revive his hopes to be in the World Cup squad next summer.
Barca were previously linked with the likes of Liverpool’s Diaz, Arsenal‘s Gabriel Martinelli, Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman and of course Nico Williams, who signed a new 10-year deal with Bilbao.
This comes after Man Utd legend Teddy Sheringham claimed Rashford “does not deserve” a move to Barca after describing his push to leave his boyhood club as “soul destroying.”
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Sheringham said: “If you assess where Marcus Rashford is at, as a professional footballer, you strive as a youngster to get to the very top and play for clubs like Manchester United, and when you’re there, you appreciate it.
“You don’t throw it away and say you want to leave. From my perspective, if you go from United to Barcelona, that’s a step up he hasn’t deserved.
“I find the whole episode very soul-destroying, compared to the way I was back in the day and how I strove to get the privilege to play for such a huge football club.
“To hear someone talking the way he is talking, saying he wants out – I didn’t like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doing that at Arsenal, I thought it was soul destroying.
“I hope Rashford doesn’t get the move that he’s hankering for.”
