With the World Cup under way in the United States, Marcus Rashford trained in the Kansas City heat alongside Jude Bellingham and Ivan Toney, his focus firmly on England's group opener against Croatia. But back in Manchester, a deadline passed that sets up one of the most complicated contract stand-offs in recent Premier League history.
Rashford, 28, spent last season on loan at Barcelona, where he helped the club win La Liga with 14 goals and 14 assists. Barcelona had an option to buy him for £26m, but they chose not to activate it, instead signing England teammate Anthony Gordon for £70m. So on 1 July, after the World Cup, Rashford will officially return to being a Manchester United player, with two years left on a contract worth £325,000 a week.
“Why Marcus Rashford's return to Man Utd is complicated by a new FIFA rule banning player isolation.”
But United do not want him back. Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to cut wage costs, and Rashford is the highest earner. Last summer, then-manager Ruben Amorim placed Rashford in a so-called “bomb squad” – a group of players forced to train separately from the first team, a tactic designed to push them out. It worked for Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony. But that approach is no longer an option.
In June 2026, world governing body FIFA and global players’ union Fifpro announced a memorandum of understanding that changes the rules. Under the new regulation, any player who is exiled from the first-team squad – forced to train at different times or isolated from teammates – can lodge a breach-of-contract complaint and demand to be released. If the complaint succeeds, the club must pay the balance of the player’s contract. For Rashford, that would mean United owing him roughly £30m (two years at around £300,000–£325,000 a week).
Current United head coach Michael Carrick, who had Rashford as a teammate and coached him, said in April that no decision had been made. “Whoever’s here, I want to work with them and help them to improve,” he said. But United have already given Rashford’s number 10 shirt to Matheus Cunha, and their summer squad plans are reportedly being built without him. The new FIFA rule, however, makes it much harder to force him out.
The situation matters for any Premier League fan because it sets a precedent: clubs can no longer freeze out players to engineer a departure without huge financial risk. For United, it means they must either reintegrate Rashford, find a buyer willing to match his wages, or face the prospect of paying him £30m to leave.
Q&A: Q: Why can't Manchester United just put Marcus Rashford in the bomb squad again? A new FIFA-Fifpro rule now forbids clubs from isolating a player from the main squad. If a player is banished, he can demand a release and his contract paid up. That makes the bomb squad tactic too expensive to use.
Q: How much would it cost Manchester United to release Rashford? With two years left on his contract at around £300,000–£325,000 a week, the remaining balance is roughly £30m. If Rashford wins a breach-of-contract complaint, United would have to pay that sum.
Q: What is the new FIFA-Fifpro rule about exiled players? The memorandum of understanding allows any player forced to train apart from the first team to claim they have been abused and demand to be released, with the club settling the remaining contract value. It is intended to prevent managers from coercing players into leaving.
What happens next? Rashford will finish the World Cup with England and then return to United. Carrick must decide whether to bring him back into the squad or try to sell him. If no buyer emerges, United may have to keep him – or pay up. The club’s summer rebuilding plans are being drawn up assuming he will not be part of them, but the new rules make that assumption far more complicated.