
Manchester United
Premier League • England
Big Rashford update sees two reasons emerge for swift Barcelona move as ‘talks open’ for Man Utd star’s exit

Marcus Rashford's dream Barca move could be step closer
Marcus Rashford’s future at Manchester United has seemingly taken another big twist following reports that emerged on Tuesday evening concerning his preferred switch to Catalan giants Barcelona.
The England revealed last year that he wanted out of Old Trafford after it became clear that he would not be able to fit into Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation, with his first-choice destination always known to be a switch to The Camp Nou.
Rashford has been on the radar of a number of top clubs since his revelation, with the likes of Milan and Borussia Dortmund known to be keen on the 27-year-old forward.
However, it had looked like a stunning U-turn could be on the cards over Rashford staying at Man Utd, according to a report that emerged earlier on Tuesday – only for this latest rumour to suggest otherwise.
It’s now claimed that Barcelona have made a concrete move to bring the Red Devils star to LaLiga, that’s according to Spanish publication Sport.
They state that Barcelona sporting director Deco met with Rashford’s team to discuss a potential transfer prior to his side’s Champions League clash with Benfica in Lisbon.
Two reasons have also emerged why Barca are keen to get a deal done as soon as possible.
Sport adds that the Catalan outfit are fearful that Dortmund could still swoop in and land the United forward, having already shown significant interest in the player.
Barcelona also want to advance with Rashford in order to get both Ansu Fati and Eric Garcia off the books, which they would need to do anyway to create room with their salary cap.
Ansu Fati has only started one game all season and his route to the first team looks difficult, with Tottenham known to have enquired about signing the former Brighton loanee.
However, the 22-year-old is keen to stay with the Blaugrana and fight for his place, which could prevent a major obstacle to Barcelona’s hopes of signing Rashford if they are unable to offload him.
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Rio Ferdinand urges United to offload unhappy stars
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, meanwhile, has suggested some wantaway players are creating “cancerous energy” at the club, and all of them need to be pushed out.
United‘s season is going far from bad to worse under new head coach Ruben Amorim, with the club currently sitting 13th in the Premier League and needing to add more players this month who are capable of fitting into the Portuguese’ 3-4-2-1 formation.
Unless he lines up as a No.9 or a wing-back, Rashford has no chance of featuring for Amorim going forward, while flop winger Antony is closing in on a move to Spain and Tyrell Malacia is also being tipped to leave in search of some regular game time.
And Ferdinand, speaking specifically about the trio’s futures on a video on his X page, said: “I think Antony’s going, someone said to me, Real Betis or somewhere like that. Just get them out man. Sorry, no, I’m just being honest.
“The more these type of guys are around, where there’s just a bad noise, they all want to go, they’re all happy to go – let’s just get them out. Let’s start afresh.
“You know what it’s like, if there’s people who are unsettled in there and it’s not going to plan and they’re not happy, it spreads. It’s like a cancerous, bad energy.”