Key Takeaways
- Marcus Rashford is set to return to Old Trafford after Barcelona loan ends.
- United want to sell but buyers cannot match his £325,000 weekly wage.
- Coach Michael Carrick says the forward could still have a future at the club.
Manchester United may be forced to welcome back Marcus Rashford this summer because Barcelona are unlikely to pay £26 million to keep him. The 28-year-old has spent the last 16 months on loan at Aston Villa and Barcelona, and United hoped the Spanish side would trigger the buy clause.
Yet the huge salary waiting in Manchester is scaring clubs away. If United finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League, Rashford’s pay will jump to £325,000 a week until 2028. Only a handful of teams in world football can afford that bill, leaving United with an expensive problem.
Interim boss Michael Carrick refused to shut the door on the England forward. “Nothing is final,” he told reporters ahead of the Chelsea clash. “Every player on the books is mine to improve. If Marcus comes back, we will work with him like anyone else.”
United sit third, seven points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea, and know Champions League money is vital. Selling Rashford would free up wages, but for now the club brace for another summer of uncertainty around their once-favourite son.