Marcus Rashford could stay at Manchester United for the remainder of his career if his reintegration into the squad goes well this week, according to chief United writer Tyrone Marshall. The 28-year-old forward returned to training with the Reds on Tuesday in Dublin, having spent last season on loan at Barcelona after a breakdown in his relationship with previous head coach Ruben Amorim.
Barcelona opt against permanent move
It was anticipated that Rashford would sign permanently for the La Liga giants in the summer. United had agreed an option for Barcelona to buy the player for £26m, but the Catalan club chose not to activate the clause and instead purchased Anthony Gordon from Newcastle. Since then, no move has materialised for Rashford, and on Sunday he returned to United having been afforded a post-World Cup break.
He is not expected to feature when United face Leeds at Croke Park, but speaking on the latest episode of the Manchester is Red podcast, Marshall explained how Rashford could continue and conclude his career with his boyhood club.
Desire on both sides
"I feel like this is a big, big week to find out whether this is going to work, or not," he said. "There is a desire on both sides for this to work. Both think that this is the most likely and most sensible outcome. It feels like he is in a good place in his personal life, he is settled but there needs to be an awareness that this is the last chance saloon for him at United, his boyhood club. He should be a United player forever."
"You only have to look at the shirt number business, nobody expected this to be a thing because his shirt number was given away - it was done and now it’s not done. He got a good reception yesterday [Sunday] but this week, how he reintegrates around this team, is there any awkwardness? How he performs in training… it’s going to be fascinating."
Potential for a long-term stay
"If all goes smoothly, like it probably will, next Saturday night, Sunday, there will probably be a view of let’s keep him. There is a scenario here where he comes back, knuckles down, everything works out well, we are back with the guy who scored 30 goals in 2022/23, he gets 15-20 and you are looking at a player who can spend the rest of his life at United."
United have insisted Rashford was always going to be reintegrated into the senior team if no suitable bids were submitted for him. Currently, there is no obvious exit destination for Rashford this summer.
Interest from Spurs and Arsenal
"The only way something happens is late in the window and there will come a point where United go: 'Too late for us,'" Marshall concluded. "There are clubs who are interested. Tottenham are pretty keen, Arsenal are the ones to watch later in the window now the Vinicius Jr. deal has fallen through, but I think there is genuine concern about selling him or loaning him to Arsenal. I certainly don’t think they will sell him to an Arsenal or Tottenham."
"Marcus is not massively keen on Tottenham because they are not in the Champions League. If he still wants to play at the highest, domestic level, Manchester United is the most likely destination where that can happen, at the minute."
