Barcelona sporting director Deco meets with agent of 27-year-old Premier League attacker – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona seem to have their ambitions for the upcoming transfer window outlined quite clearly, and one of their priorities looks to be bringing in a new left-winger for Hansi Flick. This would allow Hansi Flick to use Raphinha in a more central role.

Among the many names they seem to have earmarked for the left-wing spot, one of them is Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford. The English attacker has fallen out-of-favor under Ruben Amorim and is currently spending the second-half of the season on loan at Aston Villa.

Rashford has done quite admirably in the chances that he has gotten at Villa and Unai Emery has used him both as a left-winger and as a striker, as is the need. The English club chose not to activate the buy option, as they did not qualify for the Champions League.

Marcus Rashford and Barcelona

Marcus Rashford in a Barcelona shirt soon? (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)

The 27-year-old forward could now choose to wait to see if Barcelona make an attempt to sign him this summer. The Catalan club has been linked with the player for quite some time now and it looks like things are progressing on this front.

As per SPORT, sporting director Deco met with the player’s agent today to discuss terms of the deal. The report mentions that the most feasible strategy to sign the Englishman would be on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season.

The report mentions that although Barcelona’s dream was to sign Luis Diaz, they see the Colombian as too expensive a deal to do from a financial perspective and have thus turned their attention to Marcus Rashford, who is available at a better price.

Having lost the Europa League final and not being in any European competition for the upcoming season, Man Utd are in more need of the sale to go through than Barcelona is to sign Rashford. It puts them in a delicate situation.

All parties aligned?

Marcus Rashford vs Raphinha this season. (Source: DataMB)

Man Utd at this point would prefer taking the cash and making a clean break but it is more important for them to get his wages off the books and they might agree to loan their academy graduate provided it includes a buy clause.

Barcelona will now need to assess their Financial Fair Play (FFP) situation before making any concrete moves. Still, what matters most is that both Deco and Hansi Flick are aligned in their interest in Marcus Rashford. With all parties showing openness, the next few weeks will be crucial in determining whether this long-linked transfer finally materializes.