As things stand, there is no one more in form than Marcus Rashford, who has been on fire for Manchester United since returning from the World Cup.
The England international has found the back of the net nearly every time he has played, which has led the Spanish media to focus on him ahead of the Europa League clash against Barcelona.
We’ve already seen multiple articles labelling him Manchester United’s most dangerous man, and a recent comment from Xavi at a press conference before the game backed that up.
He said: “He’s one of the most dangerous forwards in Europe. He’s quick, can take people on one on one and we’ll have to be very vigilant with him. He’s one of the best in Europe, without a doubt.”
🗣️ Xavi, sobre Rashford: "Es uno de los delanteros más peligrosos de Europa. Es rápido, tiene uno contra uno y tendremos que vigilar mucho con él. Es uno de los mejores de Europa, sin duda" pic.twitter.com/vf5Iue921n
— Mundo Deportivo (@mundodeportivo) February 15, 2023
Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday, though, look at something else: the time he nearly signed for the La Liga side.
Names such as Harry Kane, Luka Jokic and Antoine Griezmann were being looked at, as well as Marcus Rashford, at a time when Pep Segura, then the club’s general football manager, ‘received information that the English striker had doubts about whether or not to renew with United’.
That meant Manchester United, had he not renewed, would have had to sell in 2019, which suited Barcelona rather nicely.
The Catalan club then ‘moved to test Rashford’s predisposition and received an exciting response’, which was that his agents ‘wanted to hear the culé proposal’.
That’s when ‘conversations were carried out’ with the Manchester United star’s ‘brothers and agents’, trying to do so without the information leaking, as the general manager ‘only wanted to put the signing of the Englishman on the president’s table if they were on track with his representatives, given the magnitude of the operation’.
Overall, ‘there were three meetings with them in Barcelona’, but in the end, Rashford ‘did not dare to make the leap’, as when ‘his brothers made a commitment to Barça not to renew and to force a departure from United in 2019, the boy became dizzy’.
This is because ‘he doubted whether going to the Camp Not at 21 was the best thing’, and whether ‘he would adapt to a different kind of football, language, and a dressing room full of stars’.
Ultimately, Rashford told his brothers that he ‘preferred to stay at Old Trafford for another two to three years, with a manager, Solskjaer, who believed in him a lot’.
That’s why in 2019, Manchester United announced his renewal until 2023, with the option for another year.
