Marcus Rashford succeeding at Barcelona 'wouldn't be a PR disaster' as Red Devils look to add value to exiled forward

 WHAT HAPPENED?

Rashford first expressed a desire to leave Manchester United last December, which resulted in him being frozen out of Ruben Amorim's squad. He joined Aston Villa on loan for the second half of the 2024-25 season before returning to Old Trafford, and managed to seal a switch to Barcelona on loan with an option to buy this summer. Given Barca's financial struggles, it's uncertain that they will even trigger the €35m purchase clause in the deal.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

However, Rashford's future remained unresolved by the time he returned for pre-season at the start of July, and he joined Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia in a 'bomb squad' that was forced to train away from the rest of Amorim's first team. With the likes of Scott McTominay thriving away from United, there are question marks over whether the players forced out are the real problem, with the club's culture now being questioned.

WHAT MCMANAMAN SAID

Steve McManaman, who played for United's rivals in Liverpool and Manchester City, as well as Barca's in Real Madrid, has exclusively told GOAL that the Red Devils need Rashford to succeed and they shouldn't think of the situation as a 'PR disaster' if he indeed thrives abroad.

Asked if it would be seen as a problem if he did well or if United would be cheering him on, McManaman replied: "I think the latter. People will turn it into a PR disaster, of course they will, but I think the change needed to happen. You look now, if Jadon Sancho went somewhere to win the Champions League, that wouldn't be a PR disaster. It just wasn't working out at Manchester United with the manager. They needed a change. If [Rashford] has a great season with Barcelona and he's successful, maybe it will add value to him. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a PR disaster, I think change needs to happen with the manager if you're not particularly happy. But if he does well and adds value to his price tag, that's all well and good."

McManaman did also want to reaffirm where his allegiances lie, however. "But with all due respect, I don't want Barcelona to win the Champions League! We'll leave it at that!" he laughed. "I saw [Rashford] at the Mallorca game, he's going to have a lot of opportunities this year. Barcelona are a little bit light up top, Robert Lewandowski has only just come back, so they're going to have to utilise him a lot this year. It's a wonderful opportunity at a wonderful club in a wonderful city."

WHAT NEXT FOR RASHFORD?

After scoring in England's 5-0 thrashing of Serbia on Tuesday, Rashford will now rejoin his Barcelona team-mates ahead of Saturday's La Liga encounter with Valencia, which will be played at the 6,000-capacity Johan Cruyff Stadium as the newly renovated Camp Nou remains under construction. Next Thursday, Barca face Newcastle away from home in their first Champions League game of the campaign.