If Anthony Marcial was not injured during warm -up operations, and if Manchester United was not suffering from the absence of 12 players, Marcus Rashford would not have played. This was the second leg of the 32nd round of the European League against the Danish Metiland, on a cold and cloudy night of February, and the “Old Trafford” stadium was not full of fans, and the feeling of frustration and disappointment were highly escalated, and criticism began to be poured on Manchester United coach at the time, Louis van Gaal, after defeating in the first leg. For a single goal.
Soon, things got worse for Manchester United, as Metiland advanced with a goal by Bioni Sisto. It is true that Manchester United reduced the result with a reverse goal, but before the end of the first half, Juan Mata missed a penalty. But Marcus Rashford took advantage of a cross from Guillermo Varilla and put it inside the net with a shot on the bird, to give the progress of Manchester United.
That match ended with Manchester United winning five goals to one goal. Within 12 minutes of the second half, Rashford turned from almost an unknown player into a prominent star, which was confirmed again after 3 days, by scoring two goals and making another goal in the match in which Manchester United won against Arsenal.
Rashford was eighteen years old, and from the city of Manchester, and has boundless confidence in himself, and he has extreme humility, and therefore it was very ideal for a new star glowing with the Red Devils. The future was very promising and bright. At that time, expectations about what the young player could offer to the sky, and began to talk about his ability to score 100 goals or 200 goals in the Manchester United shirt, and his ability to lead the club to win the Champions League; Indeed, the possibility of leading the English national team to win a major championship.
But after 10 years, Rashford became an undesirable player in Manchester United, and moved to Barcelona on loan. Rashford scored 87 goals in the English Premier League in the Manchester United shirt, won two FA Cup titles, two title for the English Professional Clubs League Cup, and one title for the European League. Although it was part of the England national team, which ranked second in the European Cup of Nations 2020, this achievement is like a fact that he missed a penalty shootout.
It is a good march of course, but there is an inevitable feeling of disappointment; Especially during the past two seasons. After scoring 30 goals in all competitions with Manchester United in the 2022-2023 season, when he also scored 3 goals in the World Cup, he scored only 19 goals during the past two years, including 4 goals with Aston Villa, who played for him on loan during the second half of last season. He often seemed signs of dissatisfaction, and after the headlines were focused on his activities outside the stadium, through his campaign to provide free meals for children, he is now focusing on his unconscious social relationships.
Rashford is still only twenty -seven years old, and therefore he is still at the top of his football giving, although players who shine early often reach the height of their brilliance early as well. Perhaps those who believe in the rule may notice that any player begins to decline after participating in 500 games, that Rashford reached his 500th match in his football career, a match that Aston Villa won on Nottingham Forest with two goals against a single goal at the beginning of last April.
Rashford performed well with Aston Villa, through which he proved at least that his problems are mainly due to the problems that Manchester United suffers, and that re -team resetting may help him reach the high levels that everyone was expecting from a decade before. In fact, there was no evidence of his suffering from a decline in the physical state, or the loss of confidence in the way we saw with Rahim Sterling. However, it is clear that Aston Villa did not see enough for Rashford in the ten matches he played in the Premier League to make the final purchase item for 40 million pounds. Although Aston Villa may have decided not to activate this deal for fear of approaching the threshold of violating the rules of profit and sustainability, it is difficult to avoid the feeling of Rashford’s failure to provide convincing performance during the loan period.
However, Barcelona applied to sign the player, assuming that the Catalan club is able to find another financial lever that enables him to score the player.
Rashford joined goalkeeper Juan Garcia in the list of players with which Barcelona contracted, but he has not yet been able to score them due to the financial regulations of the Spanish League. It is a common problem in Barcelona, but it always finds a way to overcome it. It was necessary to sell the rights of the dignitaries for 25 years to a Qatari company, so that Barcelona can register Danny Olmo and Bau Victor last season.
But there are no longer many things that the club can sell. Rashford agreed to reduce his salary of 325 thousand pounds per week by 15 percent (and possibly 25 percent, including rewards), but this still represents a large amount even with Barcelona returning to the Camp Nou soon after completing its renewal.
Despite the complexity of the financial matters for Barcelona, this may be the perfect place for Caford to restore his level; Especially since it will be far from the pressures, criticisms and continuous censorship he was facing in England, which increased its severity as it turned into a tool in a cultural war. Certainly, the Spanish Premier League is not the speed and strength of the English Premier League, in addition to that Barcelona plays an offensive ball, and scored 102 goals in the league last season, and therefore it is expected that many chances will be available to Cashcord.
In comparison, Ravenia, who spent most of the last season in the center of the left wing, managed to score 18 goals.
This may raise a question about the reason for Barcelona’s desire to contract with Rashford from the ground up; Especially since the Catalan club already includes many distinctive offensive options: Olmo, Jiran Torres, Victor, Pablo Toure, Firmin Lopez, Gavi and Ansu Fati, participating in the league on the left side last season, while Ravenia was playing deep in the field at times.
Fati was loaned to Monaco, Tori was sold to Mallorca, yet Barcelona was still looking for a left wing this season, and he was seeking to sign Niko Williams and Louis Diaz before settling on Rashford as a relatively reduced price. Although there is an item with the right to purchase for 26 million pounds, it is not a mandatory item. If Rashford succeeds in providing good levels, this means that Barcelona has signed a quick striker and has the ability to score goals; If the matter does not succeed, he can not activate the purchase item at the end of the season, without losing anything but paying the player’s salary for a year.
As for the Cashleford, the player faces real pressure; Because if he does not succeed in presenting his good performance, his future will be mysterious. In fact, the great expectations for promising young players in major clubs are often a “curse”; Because if this promising player does not succeed in performing a good performance for a season or two seasons in the Premier League, he may end up moving to the Turkish Premier League, or to a club like West Ham! And when any young player shows exceptional glimpses at the beginning of his football career – as Rashford did in those few days of February 2016 – there may be a sense of frustration and disappointment, regardless of the levels of this player, due to the great expectations of what he will present. As for Rashford’s march, the next few months will be very crucial.
