According to reports, Marcus Rashford is ‘very close’ to finalising a permanent move from Manchester United to FC Barcelona.

Last summer, Rashford left Man Utdto join Barcelona on loan with an option to buy for around 30 million euros (￡26m).

Barcelona took a risk on Rashford after they were encouraged by his return to form during his loan at Aston Villa, while he was a cut-price alternative to Luis Diaz and Nico Williams.

Rashford’s versatility was another factor in his favour, and he has proven his worth to Barcelona this season. He has impressed as a winger and a striker this term, grabbing ten goals and 13 assists in his 34 appearances across all competitions.

This has given Rashford a great chance to secure a permanent move to Barcelona, but this deal was always going to depend on the Spanish giants finding the necessary funds.

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Barcelona are known to have financial difficulties and have had trouble registering players in recent years, with the Rashford situation complicated by Man Utd refusing to re-negotiate the buy option in the forward’s loan deal.

Earlier this week, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insisted that Man Utd have no intention of letting Rashford go for anything less than ￡26m in the summer.

Romano said: “Manchester United want the €30m option clause paid in full. The message from United is clear – pay €30m or the player doesn’t join.

“So Barcelona feel strong because the player is on their side, but they still need to agree terms with Manchester United. United do not want to offer any discount.”

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On Friday evening, it became clear that Barcelona are pishing ahead with a permanent deal for Rashford, with journalist Matteo Moretto insisting a deal is ‘very close’.

Moretto said on X: ‘Barcelona is very close to signing Marcus Rashford.

‘He has always been a priority for both Flick and the club, as we’ve reported in recent months.’

Spanish outlet Sport, meanwhile, claims Barcelona have decided that they ‘will activate the ￡26m clause’ to buy Rashford as they have a ‘firm commitment to the striker’.

The report claims:

‘FC Barcelona’s commitment to the striker is firm and the club plans to pay the €30 million release clause to Manchester United to secure the player’s services, as confirmed by sources close to the Catalan club in recent hours.

‘The agreement is complete with the player who, as we explained in this newspaper, will have to make an effort to lower his salary in order to fit the operation into LaLiga’s financial fair play, unless Bar?a looks for alternative solutions to generate sufficient margin.’