Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford is set to join Barcelona on loan with an option to buy this summer.
The forward arrived in Barcelona on Sunday and claims from Spain reported on Monday that he completed his medical tests yesterday.
Earlier claims stated the Manchester United player was behind Athletic’s Nico Williams and Liverpool’s Luis Díaz in Barca’s list. Williams signed an extension with the Basque club, while the Catalan club largely gave up on the 28-year-old Colombian once Bayern Munich entered the scene.
Rashford’s signing ‘hasn’t generated the necessary consensus, especially from the sporting directors’ at the Camp Nou. That’s according to Sport, who provide a background on why Barcelona decided to bet on him.
Barca sporting director Deco prioritised Díaz and only changed his stance for Williams. The La Liga winners have refused to meet the Reds’ €60m price and also face competition from Bayern Munich.
This encouraged the Blaugrana to look more seriously at Rashford, who has total support of Hansi Flick and is a choice of the manager. He even requested the signing in January, before the 27-year-old’s loan move to Aston Villa.
Flick is said to have taken the step forward to finalising the Manchester United attacker’s signing, after finding out it almost impossible to secure Díaz’s services.
The manager had a meeting with Rashford on Thursday and Sport cexplain the ‘sincere conversation with the Manchester United player led to Barça’s approval of his signing’.
Flick made several things clear to the England international during the chat, telling Rashford that he’ll mainly be used on the left wing and has to earn a place in the starting lineup.
The manager has also asked him to sacrifice for the team by ‘significantly improving his defensive approach’, considering Barca have concerns about that.
Sport claims Flick was pleased with his conversation with Rashford, who has accepted the challenge. This was crucial for Barca to give the green light for his signing, which should be completed soon.
