Rashford Eyes Barcelona Move

Marcus Rashford has given the clearest indication yet of his desire to play for Barcelona ahead of his move away from Manchester United this summer being decided.

Rashford, who was loaned out to Aston Villa last season, has been warm-weather training in Malaga and has spoken of how much he would like to play with Barcelona’s 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal.

He also discussed his boyhood idol being ex-Arsenal and Barcelona forward Thierry Henry. Dwaine Maynard, Rashford’s brother and agent, has previously held meetings with Barcelona representatives but no deal has progressed.

While Barcelona’s admiration of Rashford, 27, is genuine, they also hold an interest in Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams and it is unlikely they would sign two wide forwards in the same window.

Rashford, when pointedly asked if he would like to play with Yamal, said: “Yes, for sure. Everyone wants to play with the best. Hopefully… we’ll see.”

Ruben Amorim froze out Rashford at United last season, dropping him from the match-day squad and then citing his demeanour and standards in training as a factor. But he returned to form during his six months at Villa, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals and helping them towards European qualification.

With his loan at Villa over, Rashford returns to the club with the likes of Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho as players who will look for new clubs this summer. Kobbie Mainoo also lost his place in Amorim’s team.

Speaking to Spanish influencer Javi “xBuyer” Ruiz, Rashford described how comfortable he is training in Marbella. “Spain is nice, it is not too far from home,” he said. “If I’m training over a long period of time, my family can come over as the flight is only three hours. It’s a nice location and good weather.”

Rashford also named Henry as a player he admired as a youngster. He also listed his qualities as being able to play through the middle, which would be an attribute Barcelona would look at if they were to land Williams and target further attacking players.

“He’s [Henry] comfortable playing off the left and in the middle and he is a free-flowing player,” he said. “When I was young I always enjoyed watching him in the Premier League. The No 9 position is becoming more natural to me.”

On Yamal, he added: “It’s difficult to put into words what he’s doing because he’s not supposed to be doing that at 16 or 17. I don’t think we’ve seen that before. He’s going to keep improving.”

Uk.sports.yahoo.com