Marcus Rashford finally has his Barcelona move but Man United have paid a heavy price for saga | OneFootball

There is a history of Manchester United turnarounds at the Nou Camp. Now there may be another. A player who, six months ago, was not even granted a place on the bench for the team who went on to finish 15th in the Premier League, is now being unveiled as Barcelona’s new signing. For Marcus Rashford, it feels quite a comeback.

He may go from Ruben Amorim’s bomb squad to Hansi Flick’s bench. He might only be plan C after Nico Williams performed a U-turn to stay at Athletic Bilbao and Liverpool rebuffed an approach for Luis Diaz. As Flick’s forward line consists of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, Rashford could yet spend much of his time watching on.

And yet a loan move could feel evidence of his class and enduring appeal; vindication of his strategy, too. Since December, when Rashford said he wanted a new challenge, Barcelona has felt his dream destination, but far from United’s ideal scenario. The Catalan club’s well-documented financial problems meant the prospect of a sizeable transfer fee always felt remote. Now Rashford heads out on his second successive loan, with Barcelona possessing a €30m (£26m) option to make it a permanent deal. But United could be scarred by past clauses: they thought one meant Jadon Sancho was going to Chelsea on a long-term basis, and he is back on their books.

Aston Villa had a £40m option to buy Rashford. But they did not qualify for the Champions League; in any case, it hardly felt that Rashford had his heart set on a lengthier stay. The price to purchase him has gone down by a third despite a loan spell that appeared restorative. The unwanted truth for United is that they will find it hard to ever sell Rashford for much of a fee, in part because of his enormous wages. It does not appear improbable that Barcelona will look for another loan next summer.

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Marcus Rashford is leaving Manchester United for Barcelona (AP)

But there were hints at Villa, glimpses of the Rashford of old, moments when he was running Paris Saint-Germain ragged. His 17 appearances brought just four goals, but they also yielded six assists. He displaced Ollie Watkins as first-choice striker and earned an England recall. There were signs of hunger; if the breakdown of his relationship with United was caused in part by nights out, there were evenings at Villa Park where he looked sharp and speedy. Unai Emery saw him smiling; the demanding Emery felt Rashford was responding to his methods.

There is, nevertheless, a burden of proof on two men now. Rashford is only one, though his underwhelming last 15 months in the United team prompted Teddy Sheringham, among others, to suggest he had not deserved a move to Barcelona. That return of 15 goals in 67 games stood in contrast to the career-best season before then, the rush of 30 goals that led to one of the biggest contracts in United’s history. Which, with his subsequent decline, scarcely seems the wisest of investments. If it is for Rashford to show he is good enough for Barcelona, that he belongs in the company of Yamal, Raphinha and Lewandowski, that, unlike some other quick forwards, his best days did not come early in his career before his acceleration diminished, the jury remains out on the question of whether United were right to discard him.

Certainly, it is notable how few fans sided with Rashford: a player who could have been a United icon has instead become a symbol of an era of underachievement. A willingness to see him go may be an attempt to banish much of the last decade. None of Rashford’s 426 games came for a team who genuinely challenged for the league title, or who reached a Champions League semi-final.

And yet if one risk for Amorim is that Rashford shines for Barcelona, another lies in United’s form. Shorn of Rashford, United registered their lowest league finish in half a century, with their fewest league goals since 1974. However blame is apportioned for Erik ten Hag’s falling-out with Sancho, neither benefited. History has repeated itself: so far, Rashford’s absence has done United no good. It is hard to imagine he would have scored fewer goals than Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.

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Marcus Rashford ended last season on loan at Aston Villa (PA)

Making it clear he was persona non grata is scarcely the cleverest of negotiating ploys; it has diminished United’s chances of striking a better deal. Meanwhile, United are spending some £133m on Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, two replacements who have had better seasons but lack his pedigree. Meanwhile, United may have offloaded Rashford’s salary for a season, but they are yet to cash in on him.

There should be an essential sadness that a man who could have been destined for a status as a United great will instead be consigned either to the past or to annual loans. Even during a period when the team has declined, a return of 138 goals in 426 games at 27 years old could have one day positioned him on the all-time leaderboard.

But there was also an underlying, unanswered question of how Rashford would have developed elsewhere, given a skillset that could have been suited to life under Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp. Instead, he has played for a details-obsessed Spaniard, in Emery, and now begins life under a German with a marked fondness for high pressing, in Flick. Rashford has got what he has wanted for months; perhaps longer. But he and United both ought to harbour regrets about how their relationship unravelled.