Marcus Rashford ‘accepts’ Barcelona move after big ‘sacrifice’ is made and costs of Man Utd ‘operation’ emerge

Marcus Rashford’s loan move to Barcelona has taken a significant step closer to the finishing line after the Manchester United star agreed to a significant salary sacrifice to get a move over the line, reports in Spain have revealed.

The 27-year-old is desperate to depart Old Trafford this month having fallen out of favour with Ruben Amorim, who has not picked the player since a December 12 Europa League match away at Viktoria Plzen. And while Rashford has expressed his wish to leave Manchester United in the best manner possible, the situation has threatened to turn ugly in recent days in the wake of some savage claims from the Portuguese, who claimed he’d rather select a 63-year-old goalkeeper coach on the bench than the wantaway star.

With the 60-times capped England star making a move to Barcelona his No.1 choice, a report on Monday revealed his hopes had received a major lift in the wake of news that the LaLiga giants were close to agreeing to the sale of one of the best young stars to help fund Rashford’s signing.

However, any move to take Rashford to Catalonia is proving far from straightforward. United’s valuation of at least £50m (€59.6m, $62.1m), together with the player’s sizeable £325,000 a week wages has meant any deal has been fraught with several difficulties.

That said, Fichajes reports the player has now taken a ‘big step’ towards securing his move with the Man Utd forward ‘accepting’ Barcelona’s terms for a loan move.

That’s after they stated that the English star has ‘accepted a significant reduction in his salary’ and with a move to Barcelona ‘very convincing’ to the Man Utd forward, ‘he has accepted Laporta and Deco’s request without any problems.’

Furthermore, with coach Hansi Flick ‘very attentive to get him into his ranks’, the Catalan giants ‘have been in talks’ with the United board ‘to get him to land on loan until June’ with the ‘operation’ reportedly set to cost them €3m (£2.5m, $3.1m).

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Sky Sports reporter plays down Rashford to Barcelona

The report concludes, however, that Barcelona still need to secure another possible sale to facilitate Rashford’s signing with both Ansu Fati and Eric Garcia seen as the players most likely to make way.

However, they believe that Rashford ‘could therefore become a surprise signing for Flick in the near future’ and before the window closes for business at 11pm on Monday February 3.

Despite strong speculation of an imminent move to Barcelona for Rashford, Sky Sports News reporter Melissa Reddy is adamant that the LaLiga giants are yet to make official contact with United over a prospective deal.

“Amorim is not convinced of Marcus Rashford’s behaviour and his professionalism if he has to stay at the close of this window, which is a very big possibility because Barcelona is the option he wants and pretty much the only one left,” Reddy told Sky Sports.

“They’ve not engaged United formally about taking Rashford on loan. They are struggling to offload players and create any kind of salary space. Their wage bill is increasing with contract renewals.

“Hansi Flick seems very comfortable with the players that he has, he’s not putting any pressure for new signings. His commitment is to those he already has.

“If Rashford stays, the onus is on him to change his behaviour and change his habits. Rather than the PR about how much he loves the club, the fans would like to see it in action.”

While much of the attention still surrounds a move to Barcelona, our sources have explained why a move to Fenerbahce still represents a viable option for the player – and in spite of recent denials by their president.

That’s because, while there are just over six days remaining in the mainland European transfer window at the time of writing, the Turkish transfer window remains open until February 11 – giving Super Lig sides an additional eight days to make improvements to their squads.

As a result, they continue to monitor developments over the player and will be well-positioned to swoop should a move to Istanbul fail to go through in time.

Latest Man Utd transfer news: Casemiro in Roma talks; Arsenal deal agreed

Meanwhile, United are in talks with Roma over a move to take the unwanted Casemiro to the Italian capital.

The Brazilian has not seen any action for United this calendar year and has recently been usurped in the pecking order by 21-year-old Toby Collyer.

Now two sources have confirmed that talks for Casemiro are underway, having revealed the conditions around the proposed deal and having named the player he is in line to replace in Claudio Ranieri’s side.

Elsewhere, United are finally closing on their first official signing of the January window and the Amorim era after Fabrizio Romano confirmed an agreement has been reached to bring English starlet Ayden Heaven to Old Trafford from Arsenal.

The 18-year-old is a centre-half by trade, but can also operate at left-back if required.

With talks having been ongoing for several days now, United are now on the verge of bringing the teenager in and with Romano giving the move for Heaven his famous ‘Here We Go’ seal of approval.

Another deal that is also in the works surrounds a possible move to Chelsea for Alejandro Garnacho, who could move to Stamford Bridge in a swap deal for Christopher Nkunku.

However, a concerned Gary Neville has begged United chiefs to abandon the potential transfer, having expressed his concerns about the Red Devils bringing in the France international following his struggles in west London.