Marcus Rashford spent last season on loan away from Manchester United, featuring for Aston Villa and Barcelona after his last United appearance in December 2024. During his spell at Barcelona, the 28-year-old scored and assisted 14 goals each, helping the Catalan club win La Liga.
Rashford openly expressed his desire to stay at the Camp Nou permanently, but Barcelona opted not to trigger their £26m buy option and have since added Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi to their frontline. A separate £40m clause, available to any club except Liverpool and Manchester City, has also now expired.
Proposed swap deal for Manu Kone
Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Rashford could be used as a makeweight to help United sign Roma's Manu Kone, who is valued at around £51m. Roma would benefit from adding Rashford to their squad, but his wages would force the club to pursue a loan move, which is deemed unlikely.
Icons back Carrick reunion
Rashford is set to return to United training this summer, more than 18 months after falling out of favour under former boss Ruben Amorim. With Michael Carrick now in the dugout, two Manchester United icons believe there is an opportunity for Rashford to revive his United career next season.
Paul Ince, who was formerly a United teammate of Carrick and worked with him in coaching roles, told Oddschecker: "I think Carrick can get the best out of him. I really, really do."
"If Carrick just puts his arm around him and says, 'Yeah, listen, you know, I want you at the club, I need you at the club. This is where you're going to play. This is what you're going to do.' Then I believe you're going to see a very, very good Rashford for Manchester United," Ince added.
Wes Brown, a five-time Premier League winner, echoed Ince's thoughts, telling The Sun on behalf of LiveFootballTickets: "I'm sure Michael Carrick would love him back because it gives him another option. If he could come into the scene this season, that helps out massively."
"I'm still not sure what's going to happen, but I think if it was just up to Michael, he would definitely be back in. Obviously Marcus would have loved to have probably stayed at Barca. They went another way, so I'm not sure what other options there is really. For me, it's always time. People always fall out and you can always rekindle things in football. It's just the way it is. I think it'll be a boost for Michael for him to be here next season," Brown said.
Contract and United record
Rashford has two years remaining on his Manchester United contract. The forward has made 426 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring 138 goals and registering 79 assists.
