Marcus Rashford brutally told he’s way off Barcelona level by ex-Liverpool star

James Holland 15 Aug 2025 12:40 PM

Man Utd loanee Marcus Rashford with Barcelona badge

Marcus Rashford is extremely lucky to have ended up at Barcelona this summer, with former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman providing a savage verdict on the Manchester United loanee.

Rashford spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa after being told he was not in Ruben Amorim’s plans at Man Utd. The versatile attacker, who can play as either a left winger or centre-forward, looked re-energised away from Old Trafford but ultimately could not convince Villa to sign him permanently.

Rashford was forced to look for a new club after Villa snubbed their £40million (€46m) buy option.

Instead, Rashford ended up at Barcelona after the reigning Spanish champions missed out on fellow wingers Nico Williams and Luis Diaz.

He has notched one goal and two assists in four pre-season matches so far. Rashford is aiming to impress manager Hansi Flick and convince Barca to sign him permanently for €30m (£26m) next summer.

However, McManaman is seriously concerned the 27-year-old does not have what it takes to get into Barca’s starting lineup.

In an interview with ESPN (via the Mirror), the pundit said: “It’s certainly important that he hits the ground running.

“I thought it was an incredible move for him, to be very honest.

“The last couple of seasons at Manchester United, the way Manchester United performed – for him to leave and go to arguably one of the most exciting teams in Europe, I thought: ‘He’s got an amazing agent.’

“Where’s he going to fit in? The answer is, I don’t know. Because Raphinha, Robert [Lewandowski] and Lamine [Yamal], they had the most incredible season.

“So you think that is set in stone. You’ve got Ferran [Torres] behind them. They’ve moved a couple of players out – if anything, when you look at Barcelona’s team, they need a couple of more defenders… but they go and bring in yet another forward. So we’ll wait and see.”

McManaman added: “I hope he’s a huge success, and I hope he does play. Because it will benefit everybody if he does play.”

Marcus Rashford awaiting Barcelona registration

Barca swooped for Rashford as they wanted a new forward to provide Raphinha with cover and competition on the left flank. Raphinha had an unforgettable season, scoring 34 times in 57 games, but he certainly showed signs of fatigue in the latter few months of the campaign.

If Rashford can demonstrate his very best form, then he has a chance of getting into the Barca starting eleven – but that is far from guaranteed.

The England star is also waiting to see if Barca will be able to register him before the transfer deadline on September 1.

Their first league match is against Mallorca on Saturday evening and players such as Rashford, Wojciech Szczesny and Gerard Martin still have not been registered.

Barca chiefs are taking ’emergency action’ to rectify the issue and are confident the saga will be over in the next week or two.

Goalkeeper Joan Garcia has been registered after Marc-Andre ter Stegen finally signed a medical report ruling him out for several months.