Marcus Rashford could leave Manchester United for nothing this summer and even be owed £30m in compensation, following a change in FIFA regulations that protects players from being isolated from the first-team squad.
The 28-year-old forward is currently on loan at Barcelona, where he has enjoyed a successful season, contributing 14 goals and 14 assists as the Catalan club won La Liga. However, Barcelona have decided not to make the move permanent, having instead signed Anthony Gordon for £70m.
Rashford is expected to return to United after the World Cup, but his future remains uncertain. Under former manager Ruben Amorim, he was placed in the so-called 'bomb squad' – a group of players forced to train separately from the first team. That tactic led to the departures of Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony, but a new FIFA memorandum with players' union Fifpro now allows banished players to lodge a breach-of-contract complaint and demand to be freed, with the club having to pay the remaining value of their contract.
In Rashford's case, with two years left on his £300,000-a-week deal, that would amount to roughly £30m. The new rule is designed to prevent managers from isolating players as a means of forcing them out, a practice deemed abusive.
Current United boss Michael Carrick may now be more inclined to reintegrate Rashford into the squad if a sale cannot be arranged. Premier League legend Alan Shearer has advised Carrick to do everything possible to sell the player this summer, suggesting that too much may have happened behind the scenes for the relationship to be repaired.
