As temperatures climbed above 30C in Kansas City, Marcus Rashford ran through passing drills with Jude Bellingham and Ivan Toney, unconcerned by the deadline that was about to pass thousands of miles away. The Barcelona option to turn his loan into a permanent £26m deal expired without being activated, meaning the England forward will officially return to being a Manchester United player on 1 July, with a £325,000-a-week contract that still has two years to run.
Rashford, who spent the 2024/25 season at Aston Villa before last season at Barcelona, had just scored the final goal in England's 4-2 World Cup group-stage win over Croatia. For now, his focus is on the tournament – Wednesday’s opener against Croatia in Dallas comes first, then a possible last-32 encounter in Atlanta on 1 July. But the question of his club future remains unresolved.
“Barcelona passed on £26m Rashford deal as he scored for England; United face dilemma over his return.”
Michael Carrick, United’s head coach and a former teammate of Rashford, said in April that no decision had been made about the attacker’s future. “Whoever's here, I want to work with them and help them to improve,” Carrick said. Yet the club’s minority owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, wants to reduce wage costs, and Rashford’s salary makes him the highest earner. United already gave his number 10 shirt to Matheus Cunha last season and are not expected to take it off the Brazilian.
Rashford’s path back to the first team is complicated. Twelve months ago, then-manager Ruben Amorim exiled him to the ‘bomb squad’, ordering him to train away from the main group, alongside Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia. But last week, FIFA and global players’ union Fifpro announced a memorandum of understanding allowing any player exiled from the main group to demand release and have their contract paid up. Ostracising Rashford again appears off the agenda.
Rio Ferdinand, who in January 2025 declared Rashford’s United career finished after Amorim’s public criticism, has now changed his mind. Speaking after Rashford’s World Cup goal, the former England defender suggested the player has matured on loan and could revive his career at Old Trafford by adopting a ‘finisher’ role – the same position he sometimes filled at Barcelona. “If I was the player the manager said that about, my heart, my pride, my ego – it’s embarrassment,” Ferdinand had said on his YouTube channel after Amorim’s criticism. Now he sees a different path.
In theory, Rashford could resume his career at the club where he broke through as a teenager, but the summer rebuilding plans are being pieced together without him. For now, he is a Manchester United player again – and the decision about whether he stays or goes has only just begun.