
Marcus Rashford in talks with Barcelona after Manchester United agree loan
Barcelona's offer, which has been made through intermediaries, includes an option to buy the 27-year-old next summer and has been sanctioned by their head coach, Hansi Flick. Rashford has held talks with Flick while his brother and representative, Dwaine Maynard, met Barcelona officials in Catalonia last month.
The England international is one of five United players who have been told they have no future at the club and made to train away from Ruben Amorim's squad this summer. Rashford, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, has been training at a gym in Salford and at United's Carrington base, although only after first-team players have left.
United value Rashford at £40m but, with no permanent offers arriving for a player who has three years remaining on a £325,000-a-week contract, Barcelona's offer could suit all parties.
The striker has ruled out a wage cut and wants to join a club in the Champions League rather than move to the Saudi Pro League. Talks between United and Barcelona are understood to be continuing but the outline of an agreement is in place.
Flick wants to add versatile forwards to his squad this summer despite having Lamine Yamal and Raphinha at his disposal. Barcelona were interested in the Liverpool winger Luis Díaz but were informed the Colombia international is not for sale.
Liverpool have rejected a €67.5m offer from Bayern Munich for Díaz. The Spanish champions also attempted to buy Nico Williams before the forward signed an eight-year contract extension with Athletic, his boyhood club in Bilbao.
Rashford has spent 20 years at United, scoring 138 goals in 426 appearances for his boyhood team, but has not featured since being dropped by Amorim for the Manchester derby last December. He said later that month that he was ready for a new challenge away from Old Trafford.
Amorim's team drew 0-0 with Leeds in their first pre-season friendly in Stockholm on Saturday. Kick off at the Strawberry Arena was delayed by 10 minutes because of heavy traffic outside the stadium. Matheus Cunha made his United debut following his £62.5m arrival from Wolves and played the opening 45 minutes before Amorim made 11 changes at the interval.
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Amorim says Cunha showed what United have been missing. 'I think Matheus Cunha showed what we need - that is the player when he receives the ball between the lines can be really aggressive in direction of the opponent. We watched that during last season in a different team, so we expect the same thing. Of course, you can see that the connection between him and Bruno [Fernandes] is still not there, but it's going to be a good connection.'
United head to the United States next week for the Premier League Summer Series against West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton and hope to include Bryan Mbeumo in their travelling party. Old Trafford officials agreed a deal that could rise to £71m on Friday for the Brentford forward, who underwent his United medical on Saturday.
After the game in Stockholm, Daniel Farke confirmed that he had told Patrick Bamford that the striker was not going to be involved in Leeds' Premier League campaign, because of his fitness problems over the past couple of years. The Leeds manager said: 'Patrick knows how much I value him as a player, I have spoken several times about this, and that I would have preferred a completely fit Patrick Bamford, in the last two seasons. He also knows how much I rate him as a person, but I thought it was my duty to have a very open and honest conversation with him right now, straight away with him.
'The second day of pre-season I got him into my office and told him that he was not in my plans for the upcoming Premier League season, just in the fact that he had really difficult years in the last years.'
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