Rashford Heading to Barcelona – How Does he Fit Into Flick’s Attack?

Rashford in action for Villa in UCL (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Barcelona is strengthening its impressive attack, with Englishman Marcus Rashford coming to a verbal agreement with the LaLiga champions on Saturday, as reported by Fabrizio Romano. Rashford will undergo medical tests in the next few days before completing his move from Manchester United. 

While this is initially a loan deal, there will be an option to buy for Barca. Rashford spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, helping the Lions make a deep run into the Champions League, which gave eventual winners PSG a run for their money in the quarterfinals. 

The Red Devils made it clear Rashford wasn’t part of their plans anymore, leading to his exit. It’s hard to see him returning to Old Trafford and becoming a regular in their attack again, but it’s not impossible, either. That being said, the focus right now for the 27-year-old will be to go to Spain and make an immediate impact for the Catalan outfit.

Barcelona is still financially stricken, and signing Rashford on a temporary basis will help them in that regard. He’s been on their radar for months, and manager Hansi Flick said in May he believes in sporting director Deco and his ability to add talent. 

Via The Athletic:

“This is what we have talked about with the club. In the last matches maybe we did not have a lot of options in that position… so we have to bring more options to the team and more quality. This is the job from Deco, is clear, and I will support him.”

Flick also discussed Rashford and Luis Diaz specifically, who Barcelona held interest in before Liverpool made it clear they plan to keep the Colombian:

“I don’t want to speak about players which are not in my team, but of course Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford are fantastic players. I like them and we’ll see what happens.”

As things stand, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha are Flick’s first-choice options out wide in his 4-3-3 formation, with Robert Lewandowski up the middle. Signing a player like Rashford, who fills a need for the Spanish champions, is key, especially after Nico Williams snubbed Barca in favor of signing a new deal with Athletic Club. 

Starting minutes won’t likely come too often for Rashford, but he will certainly see the pitch as a substitute. The Manchester native joins a special attack consisting of Yamal, Raphinha, Lewandowski, and Dani Olmo. Rashford has been deployed in a variety of different positions throughout his professional career, but playing on the left flank is most familiar to him. 

That’s a position where Barcelona was looking to strengthen their squad. However, given Rashford’s versatility, it helps his case to get consistent minutes. While Raphinha bagged 33 goals across all competitions mostly playing out left, he is capable of playing elsewhere as well if Flick wanted to switch things around to get Rashford in the squad. That’s without hindering the development of Yamal, though. 

As for Lewandowski, he’s still smashing in goals at a ridiculous rate, but the Pole is now 36. Rashford has played as a No. 9 before and could definitely be used up top in place of Lewa if he simply needs a rest or is injured. 

Perhaps Rashford isn’t at the peak of his career right now. Ruben Amorim has axed him from the first team at United. He didn’t play well enough at Villa to earn a permanent move, although injuries did hinder his progress.

However, Rashford has played his entire career in the Premier League and now heads to Spain. While it’s a different style of play that is more focused on skill and technical ability rather than physicality, his experience in the English top flight should prove to be key in Barcelona. 

This is a nice signing for Flick’s side and could be where Rashford finds his best again. Only time will tell.