Marcus Rashford - Barcelona Watch

Wages and workrate are biggest barriers. For all the ‘look the other way at this stat’ stuff that goes on we saw on many occasions how poor his work rate was here and it seems to be a theme of the criticism Barcelona fans have of him, particularly around his efforts pressing.

I do think he’ll be an asset to a Fulham or Crystal Palace, Everton (etc), but the fact he’s nearly 29 and is years beyond looking like he cares much when out of possession, will be a big consideration for clubs expecting to spend much of the game vs many opponents without the ball
 
Nyland said:
Wages and workrate are biggest barriers. For all the ‘look the other way at this stat’ stuff that goes on we saw on many occasions how poor his work rate was here and it seems to be a theme of the criticism Barcelona fans have of him, particularly around his efforts pressing.

I do think he’ll be an asset to a Fulham or Crystal Palace, Everton (etc), but the fact he’s nearly 29 and is years beyond looking like he cares much when out of possession, will be a big consideration for clubs expecting to spend much of the game vs many opponents without the ball
Click to expand...

If he cant be bothered to run for United and even Barcelona. What makes you think he'll run for even Palace?
 
TempusFugit said:
The entire narrative about kicked out because he wasn't tracking back enough is complete rubbish
Click to expand...
Just about every fan who watched him said this, he played without intensity, did not track back enough, did not press hard.

He ruined his career, that’s the truth of it.

I’m completely on board if the club never allows him to play here again. I’m also completely committed to not sell/loan him to Barcelona after June 15th.

Our negotiating position in other transfer deals is at risk if we let Barça low ball us.
 
Apokalips said:
I think that we would likely be getting a different personality back if he did reintegrate. He has had to humble himself and spend time on the bench at both Villa and Barca, so being a rotation piece at his boyhood club would not be an issue for him, as long as he felt loved.

He acted unprofessionally at times but Amorim didn't treat him with great clarity or respect either (from people I know close to the situation) and he got booted out by his first love so it all would have been painful.

I always wanted him gone, but would possibly look to just keep him if clubs try to take the piss with their offers. We need to not let ourselves continue to get mugged by exits. But extensive discussions and evaluation would need to happen and none of us are truly privy to any of that to make/understand the decisions with full knowledge.

If he did return he would have to know that he has to prove himself all over again.
Click to expand...
After 'that' interview? After 'that' tweets where he thanked every other club and their dogs other than ManUtd?

No sir, let him go. This will only get ugly.
 
At the end of the day, a line has to be drawn.

We cant keep letting other clubs and players playing with us again and again without consequences. If Barca don't want to pay what was agrees then we cut ties with them.

Rashford, if he still insist on Barca and facilitate in whatever scheme they do and refuse to go to other club then so be it.

We just have to take whatever loss we entail with his wage and have him sit and not play him. United have to stand firm this time so the next next times things like this wont happens again. I think we already did the best we could last time to fascilitate his dream move to Barca. So, there is nothing to blame if we take a firm stand and protect ourselves this time.
 
Rolaholic said:


Feels like most pundits in the country this morning are pushing this today...
Click to expand...


Nick Butt's ability to say the wrong thing is right up there as pundits go.

I don't see what relevance Welbeck's time at Arsenal has anyway but he definitely didn't do well there. 16 league goals in 5 years. If a United winger/forward did that he'd be slating them.
 
NLunited said:
I think giving them Rashford is going to help us more than hurt us.
Click to expand...
Only if he’s not motivated. I watched him a lot at Villa and I’ve seen bits of him at Barcelona - he’s still a top player and his overall game has actually improved. I’d be very surprised if he didn’t massively improve them.
 
Doracle said:
Only if he’s not motivated. I watched him a lot at Villa and I’ve seen bits of him at Barcelona - he’s still a top player and his overall game has actually improved. I’d be very surprised if he didn’t massively improve them.
Click to expand...
Seems that's the crux of it. He'll go through periods where he's seemingly highly motivated/found his mojo and then just revert to periods of nothingness...

He should go to Bayern and win more titles whilst being gauranteed to be competing at the business end of the CL, basically.

He "only" has Diaz ahead of him so he'll get plenty of game time in rotation, IMO.

Similar to what he has at Barca. And he'll at least know Kane well.
 
OmarUnited4ever said:
There is a deadline of 15 June for the 30M fee, if they do not activate it, then the club will wait for other offers and Barca might end up having to pay more, there are reports of other clubs being interested.
Click to expand...


And like I said, I think Barca's looking to get him dirt cheap, or not at all, they're not fussed. Thus why they've already bought Gordon and is still actively looking at other attacking options.

Apokalips said:
I think that we would likely be getting a different personality back if he did reintegrate. He has had to humble himself and spend time on the bench at both Villa and Barca, so being a rotation piece at his boyhood club would not be an issue for him, as long as he felt loved.

He acted unprofessionally at times but Amorim didn't treat him with great clarity or respect either (from people I know close to the situation) and he got booted out by his first love so it all would have been painful.

I always wanted him gone, but would possibly look to just keep him if clubs try to take the piss with their offers. We need to not let ourselves continue to get mugged by exits. But extensive discussions and evaluation would need to happen and none of us are truly privy to any of that to make/understand the decisions with full knowledge.

If he did return he would have to know that he has to prove himself all over again.
Click to expand...

Maybe, and I hope so, I mean, for all the discussions and dissing, I wouldn't say he's a bad human being, he just didn't work out in the end due to his own personality/ego and the situation at the club throughout his time here.
But, I must say I'm pretty sceptical about that. I mean, did he track back and work harder even at Barca? I just think he's got a certain amount of ego/top dog mentality that he just won't "debase" himself that way in terms of putting real, consistent shifts in in terms of pressing and tracking back. It just seems like that he views himself as a Yamal-level type of talent / importance to a team, he thinks as long as he can get goals and assists then the defense is for other people. Unfortunately, Man Utd, Villa and Barca just don't agree with that.
 
Doracle said:
We can’t entertain this. Newcastle are a potential rival for a UCL spot next season and vastly improving their attacking options is not worth it.
Click to expand...
I get that, but his salary is a major issue for us, if they wanna use Gordon money on him, let them, and trust me, even at his absolute best, he does not improve them that much, they lack in attack a lot that even a top level Rashford will move the needle for them just by little, that's assuming Rashford actually play to his absolute best which is saying a lot
 
Barcelona have a pretty decent buy option on him, one which they agreed to last summer, and he has since proven his worth to them several times. They have obviously been in Rashford’s ears and told him to communicate to United that he would not join any other team and are now trying to lowball us to save a few million.

Interesting to see how United responds but would hate for us to just roll over for Barcelona. We’re a big club in our own right and can absorb losses on a depreciating asset.
 
TempusFugit said:
You've got your timeline all wrong. The interview came after he was out of the team and it was clear to anyone with a single brain cell that his time here had come to an end. Henry Winter himself said the club knew about the interview and he had informed them about it. The club didn't dispute this. They had already tried testing the waters to sell him before that and there had been interest from clubs, psg for example. INEOS were open to offers in the summer of 2024 but couldn't find anyone willing to meet their valuation.

Alright I'll humor you. Let's say Rashford was banned because he refused to put in more effort. After kicking him out of the team, was he ever given a chance to prove he'd gotten the message? If it was all about putting in an effort (or not training well enough) why did Amorim never play him after that? A player who scored 3 goals in 4 games iirc for him. He made the squad once just once post ban (in about 2 months, despite being fit and ready to play) against Newcastle at Old Trafford yet didn't play a single minute. How do you evaluate a player's response to your demands?


If this was truly about training why did Ruben Amorim even after kicking hin out comment about how well he was training yet never play him in an actual match? He specifically mentioned before the Manchester Derby (where Rashford was left out) about how well he had trained. Did Rashford start training poorly after this? His comments are there and easy to find. The entire narrative about kicked out because he wasn't tracking back enough is complete rubbish, the club wanted to get rid and Amorim was a willing participant. He did the '' dirty'' work to facilitate his exit.

They tried the same tactic on Casemiro (he barely played any games between December 2024 - January 2025, very convenient time period right?) but he stuck to his guns and left Amorim no choice but to play him when it was clear he wasn't leaving, that plus our midfield was rubbish. He started 4 games then was an unused substitute in TEN of them, with even Toby Collyer being preferred as an option over him. It should be clear that Ineos were just targeting high earners and didn't think Rashford and Casemiro deserved their wages. They had a target on their backs from the moment Ineos walked in with their mantra of ruthless cost cutting.

Rashford has become a character that people just twist to fit whatever criticism they have of him in their heads. Reading through the caf you'd think Rashford said feck the club i'm leaving after being asked to run a bit more. It's ridiculous and people should do some research instead of frothing at the mouth online about some lad they only know about as a footballer. There's a lot of valid criticism (he's terrible at pressing for example) about Rashford but i haven't seen Man Utd fans hate on a player like this for a while. Even some of our players who have done some truly heinous stuff haven't had it this bad.
Click to expand...

Your post reads like fan fiction. Amorims first match as United manager was on the 24th of nov, between that and the match Rashford and Garnacho were left out of, we played 6 matches, Rashford featured in all 6 of them. «Clear to everyone his time had come at and end»…His performances weren’t good and his overall attitude on the pitch left a lot to be desired, him and Garnacho were left out of the squad for the Manchester Derby with comments made on it being down to selection and not injury, and a few days later we get his Henry Winter interview where he essentially says he’s leaving the club.

Feel free to document your claim that Manchester United was informed beforehand about Winters interview with Rashford and what the content would be, and that we didn’t object to any of it.

Rashford signed a new contract in july 23, making him one of the best paid players in professional football. There wasn’t any grand scheme to get rid of him in 24.

You evaluate the response by watching the players train, and actually interacting with them on a daily basis.

Why would the club, little over a year after making him one of the best paid players in all of football, a local player who is a perfecting marketing tool for the club, launch a scheme involving the manager to get rid of the player no matter what? Why would Amorim instantly just go «Sure, sounds like a genius plot to freeze out a player who recently was one of the most exciting talents in the league, lets go». If we had a grand plan to get rid of him, a key part of it would’ve been to stay quiet about it rather than making it well known that there was no way back for him. Considering we’re still stuck with him and all…
 
NotChatGPT said:
Your post reads like fan fiction. Amorims first match as United manager was on the 24th of nov, between that and the match Rashford and Garnacho were left out of, we played 6 matches, Rashford featured in all 6 of them. «Clear to everyone his time had come at and end»…His performances weren’t good and his overall attitude on the pitch left a lot to be desired, him and Garnacho were left out of the squad for the Manchester Derby with comments made on it being down to selection and not injury, and a few days later we get his Henry Winter interview where he essentially says he’s leaving the club.

Feel free to document your claim that Manchester United was informed beforehand about Winters interview with Rashford and what the content would be, and that we didn’t object to any of it.

Rashford signed a new contract in july 23, making him one of the best paid players in professional football. There wasn’t any grand scheme to get rid of him in 24.

You evaluate the response by watching the players train, and actually interacting with them on a daily basis.

Why would the club, little over a year after making him one of the best paid players in all of football, a local player who is a perfecting marketing tool for the club, launch a scheme involving the manager to get rid of the player no matter what? Why would Amorim instantly just go «Sure, sounds like a genius plot to freeze out a player who recently was one of the most exciting talents in the league, let’s go». If we had a grand plan to get rid of him, a key part of it would’ve been to stay quiet about it rather than making it well known that there was no way back for him. Considering we’re still stuck with him and all…
Click to expand...
The interview was the day after (or possibly the same day) as there was a significant press briefing that Rashford was seen by the United board as the poster boy for failure at the club and would never play for the club again. At no stage did the club deny those statements (and could have easily done so) and, consistent with the message, Rashford did not play a single minute for United again. All of this strongly suggests it was a club briefing.

You can also see that this was the catalyst for Rashford’s interview, as the very question Winter asked him re leaving was around him having woken that day to articles about the club wanting to sell him. It’s fine to portray the position as mutual (it seems clear that Rashford also wanted to leave) but the suggestion that Rashford announced he was leaving, as some sort of unprovoked bolt from the blue, is just nonsense.
 
NotChatGPT said:
Your post reads like fan fiction. Amorims first match as United manager was on the 24th of nov, between that and the match Rashford and Garnacho were left out of, we played 6 matches, Rashford featured in all 6 of them. «Clear to everyone his time had come at and end»…His performances weren’t good and his overall attitude on the pitch left a lot to be desired, him and Garnacho were left out of the squad for the Manchester Derby with comments made on it being down to selection and not injury, and a few days later we get his Henry Winter interview where he essentially says he’s leaving the club.

Feel free to document your claim that Manchester United was informed beforehand about Winters interview with Rashford and what the content would be, and that we didn’t object to any of it.

Rashford signed a new contract in july 23, making him one of the best paid players in professional football. There wasn’t any grand scheme to get rid of him in 24.

You evaluate the response by watching the players train, and actually interacting with them on a daily basis.

Why would the club, little over a year after making him one of the best paid players in all of football, a local player who is a perfecting marketing tool for the club, launch a scheme involving the manager to get rid of the player no matter what? Why would Amorim instantly just go «Sure, sounds like a genius plot to freeze out a player who recently was one of the most exciting talents in the league, lets go». If we had a grand plan to get rid of him, a key part of it would’ve been to stay quiet about it rather than making it well known that there was no way back for him. Considering we’re still stuck with him and all…
Click to expand...
Wouldn't that time frame fall right in line with Jim buying part of the club? I think it's safe to assume Ratcliffe didn't like that contract based off of how he went about penny pinching from the moment he got through the door.

Even though Rashford scored 3 in the first 2 games for Amorim he clearly wasn't a player he wanted/needed he's not a 10, he's not a 9, he's not a hard working wing back/player he was pretty much surplus the moment Amorim got appointed.

I don't think it was a grand scheme to get rid or whatever and honestly Rashford himself can't have too many qualms because he wasn't performing but when the new manager doesn't want/need you and the new owners don't want that ridiculous contract over their heads then I think his days where numbered.

And that last bit doesn't really work either because he did the same with Garnacho or at least it was pretty well known that Garnacho and Amorim wanted to part ways, similar to the Mainoo situation just this time Amorim got the boot before the club could act.
 
afrocentricity said:
Apologies, there are multiple other caftards stating it over and over in this thread and if it's misinformation, it's pissing me off tbh...
Click to expand...
I am not sure why you are uniquely pissed off about this, maybe you love Rashford too much. But transfer threads run off rumors and media frenzy and speculations. If you want official statements from players and all clubs involved, then transfer threads are not the place for you.
 
RedDevil@84 said:
I am not sure why you are uniquely pissed off about this, maybe you love Rashford too much. But transfer threads run off rumors and media frenzy and speculations. If you want official statements from players and all clubs involved, then transfer threads are not the place for you.
Click to expand...
Ok, so instead of looking for the required evidence, you attack me like a school child in justification for accepting or worse, pushing a fake narrative?

If something is fake you don't get annoyed at the people questioning it, that's just weird.

Go away...
 
afrocentricity said:
Ok, so instead of looking for the required evidence, you attack me like a school child in justification for accepting or worse, pushing a fake narrative?

If something is fake you don't get annoyed at the people questioning it, that's just weird.

Go away...
Click to expand...
I am not attacking you. I am just saying that's how transfer threads are. When media says United are interested in Ederson and Atalanta coach says Ederson is not in training because a big club is interested, one could argue that there is no official statement from United, Atalanta or Ederson on this and ask for video proof that spells it out to you, but you are not going to get it.

Anyways, you be you and continue to yell at the cloud.
 
I really hope we tell Barca to feck off and sell him for more elsewhere.

That said with Amorim gone all the blame can be placed on him, the door is open for him to return, and whilst his wages are a big issue, if the option is to keep Rashford and that enables us to bring in a player for another position I mean I would not hate the idea, if it was not Rashford and we were being linked with a Barca winger who just had the season Rashford has had for what £26m plus eating £200k of his wages a week, so a further £10m so £36m for a player of Rashford's qualities who just had his season, I think most people would be on board.

it all depends on what Rashford turns up, because if he is brilliant as he can be then everything is history, if he stinks it up then man we are in a world of shite again

It also depends on what losing the £26m + keeping Rashford's wages means to our other signing budget

All I am saying is there are positives and negatives, think a lot of people here are too negative on the idea especially as it may end up happening, and if it does then the best thing we can all do is get behind him and give him the benefit of the doubt
 
ThierryHenry14 said:
If Arteta wants him and Rashford wants to come, then sure. Arteta did bring in Sterling on loan and covered his 300k/week salary, it didn't work out though.
Click to expand...
Arteta didnt want Sterling, he got Sterling at the last minute from the 1£ bin because we didnt want to spend. And Chelsea paid a good part of his wages, Arsenal paid less than half of it.
I can't imagine a player Arteta would want less than Rashford. Complete opposite of what he wants from a winger, we would actually see Arteta jump on the pitch with his lack of effort.
 
Sakasaka said:
Arteta didnt want Sterling, he got Sterling at the last minute from the 1£ bin because we didnt want to spend. And Chelsea paid a good part of his wages, Arsenal paid less than half of it.
I can't imagine a player Arteta would want less than Rashford. Complete opposite of what he wants from a winger, we would actually see Arteta jump on the pitch with his lack of effort.
Click to expand...
ok, then it is a no.
 
gajender said:
What Amorim did was with blessings from Upper Management and I don't think it had much impact on Rashford's value either his contract had already ensured he is an unsaleable asset .
Click to expand...

It was rash (no pun intended) and short sighted.

Not only does it tell any club that the player is unwanted, it gives the player the "f you" attitude of not showing any flexibility on the way out.

It helped Barca and they will continue to take advantage of the situation.

Not to say that it was a secret that United wanted rid of Rashford, but putting him in the "bock squad" was never going to help protect his value.
 
The good news is that him, Mount and Onana are the last of the overpaid and underperforming players left on our books from the previous regime.

We also have issues with Ugarte and Zirkzee but I think there is a market for them. Almost everyone else on the squad is performing at an acceptable level.
 
GDaly95 said:
I understand the appeal in 'letting him rot in the reserves', especially if Barcelona plan on shafting us with another loan situation - possibly with his co-operation.

But ultimately I think we just need to try and find suitors who are willing to pay and, in the event that we can't, we take whatever is on the table from Barca.

It's shit, but we just have to chalk it down to extentuating circumstances based on a legacy decision (his contract and mad wages) that doesn't reflect how the club is run now, and for that reason I can stomach it.
Click to expand...
Taking whatever we can get from barca might be best in this individual situation, but if you show no backbone, then you can expect to be treated like a doormat in the future.

I think the club gains more longterm by refusing silly offers from Barca and standing on principle.
 
Bestie07 said:
The good news is that him, Mount and Onana are the last of the overpaid and underperforming players left on our books from the previous regime.

We also have issues with Ugarte and Zirkzee but I think there is a market for them. Almost everyone else on the squad is performing at an acceptable level.
Click to expand...

Thing about mount is when he is fit he's fine, he's overpaid but he contributes. Played well last game of the season out of position.
 
Bobby_2024 said:
True, but if my new destination company started treating me sh1t by offering half of the wage and recruiting other one (Gordon) for the same role, I might think about my situation and look at better options
Click to expand...

Are they offering half of his wages?

Are we sure of what Rashford agreed with Barca should the transfer become permanent?

Are they trying to screw him over for pre-agreed wages, or just drive the price down that they pay United?

I suspect they want to take him on loan for another year, pay a % of his wages and wind down the clock on his United transfer, so they never have to pay the lump sum transfer fee. Smart business.
 
TempusFugit said:
That was such a silly idea. The club was so high on Amorim plus Berrada and co seemingly went with whatever he wanted at the time. What did the bomb squad accomplish? Nothing. Treating a long serving player like Marcus(12th on Man Utd all time scorer list and really should've broken into the top 10) like a complete failure, not even permitting him to use the training complex at the same time as the team. That was just unnecessary humiliation. Antony and Malacia had no business there either, they didn't deserve it. Compare Amorim's outbursts criticizing players (even kids out on loan, remember his comments about Dorgu as well) to how Carrick spoke about and treated Malacia.

Ruben Amorim tried to be a disciplinarian a bit too hard while ironically lacking discipline himself. Just look at his behavior in press conferences and comments about the club/players in general.
Click to expand...

Completly agree here.

The unnecessary humiliation, as you say, doesnt go down well with other players in the squad.

Yes, we had cretins like Garnacho who sulked for not starting in the EL final, but there is ways to deal with that as a manager.

Like you said, Antony and Malacia - what did they do wrong to have to go train away from the squad?

And it continued with how Amorim treated Mainoo. Which is exacly why Amorim is still without employment and Mainoo, and Rashford, are off to the World Cup.
 
TempusFugit said:
You've got your timeline all wrong. The interview came after he was out of the team and it was clear to anyone with a single brain cell that his time here had come to an end. Henry Winter himself said the club knew about the interview and he had informed them about it. The club didn't dispute this. They had already tried testing the waters to sell him before that and there had been interest from clubs, psg for example. INEOS were open to offers in the summer of 2024 but couldn't find anyone willing to meet their valuation.

Alright I'll humor you. Let's say Rashford was banned because he refused to put in more effort. After kicking him out of the team, was he ever given a chance to prove he'd gotten the message? If it was all about putting in an effort (or not training well enough) why did Amorim never play him after that? A player who scored 3 goals in 4 games iirc for him. He made the squad once just once post ban (in about 2 months, despite being fit and ready to play) against Newcastle at Old Trafford yet didn't play a single minute. How do you evaluate a player's response to your demands?


If this was truly about training why did Ruben Amorim even after kicking hin out comment about how well he was training yet never play him in an actual match? He specifically mentioned before the Manchester Derby (where Rashford was left out) about how well he had trained. Did Rashford start training poorly after this? His comments are there and easy to find. The entire narrative about kicked out because he wasn't tracking back enough is complete rubbish, the club wanted to get rid and Amorim was a willing participant. He did the '' dirty'' work to facilitate his exit.

They tried the same tactic on Casemiro (he barely played any games between December 2024 - January 2025, very convenient time period right?) but he stuck to his guns and left Amorim no choice but to play him when it was clear he wasn't leaving, that plus our midfield was rubbish. He started 4 games then was an unused substitute in TEN of them, with even Toby Collyer being preferred as an option over him. It should be clear that Ineos were just targeting high earners and didn't think Rashford and Casemiro deserved their wages. They had a target on their backs from the moment Ineos walked in with their mantra of ruthless cost cutting.

Rashford has become a character that people just twist to fit whatever criticism they have of him in their heads. Reading through the caf you'd think Rashford said feck the club i'm leaving after being asked to run a bit more. It's ridiculous and people should do some research instead of frothing at the mouth online about some lad they only know about as a footballer. There's a lot of valid criticism (he's terrible at pressing for example) about Rashford but i haven't seen Man Utd fans hate on a player like this for a while. Even some of our players who have done some truly heinous stuff haven't had it this bad.
Click to expand...
So funny seeing people have short memories and saying I was wrong about the club forcing Rashford out when the club tried the same thing to Casemiro. We just had no choice but to bring him back in.

Amorim almost did the same to Mainoo but he outlasted him.

Wages were the primary factor for both Rashford and Casemiro, highlighted by Amorim being forced to bring back in Garnacho also as with his low wages he was a more sellable asset so didn't want to do too much there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.