The Marcus Rashford to Barcelona saga will likely dominate the summer transfer window. He has no future at Manchester United after admitting last season that he wanted to leave. This led to a loan move to Aston Villa for the second half of the campaign.
Rashford will be hoping that his form for Villa will have convinced Barcelona to take a chance on him. The forward scored four goals, with six assists in 17 games for Unai Emery's side after a torrid time at Old Trafford.
According to Mundo Deportivo, "Barça isn’t the only club interested. Several wealthy Saudi Arabian teams are also pursuing him. In fact, one of those clubs has made a significant offer—reportedly around €40 million, according to sources close to the player.
"Still, Rashford has declined that proposal, as he continues to wait for a move to Barça... To make that dream a reality, Rashford would even be willing to lower his salary—currently quite high and outside the limits of Barça’s financial fair play structure."
Should Marcus Rashford have taken the Saudi money?
It was not revealed which club from the Saudi Pro League made the offer for Rashford. However, we can suspect it would have been one of the clubs owned by the Public Investment Fund: Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, or Al-Nassr.
There is still a thought that players only go to Saudi Arabia for the money. However, Al-Hilal proved at the Club World Cup that they can perform at the highest level. The team now managed by Simone Inzaghi made it to the quarter-finals. They defeated Manchester City along the way and drew with Real Madrid.
The risk with joining a club in the Saudi Pro League is that it could lead to Rashford being overlooked for England. Ivan Toney is now playing for Al-Ahli and was still included in Thomas Tuchel's recent roster. However, he played just two minutes against Senegal.
Rashford is only 27 years old and still has ambitions of playing at the highest level. Therefore, he was right in turning down the riches of the Saudi Pro League.
Is Barcelona an option for Marcus Rashford?
Rashford has been linked with Barcelona since he revealed to the journalist Henry Winter that he wanted out of Old Trafford. Many of the rumors have come from the player himself expressing his desire to join the La Liga side. A lot of speculation is also produced by agents to keep a player's value high.
The forward is currently not being linked with any teams other than Barcelona right now. If a transfer to Barça does not come to fruition, then Rashford will have to settle again on a move to a less glamorous side. Villa was not his dream in January, but it ended up being the right fit for him at a very challenging period in his career.