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Manchester United are reportedly reluctant to sell Marcus Rashford to a direct rival and Arsenal should be prepared for disappointment if they step up their interest in the forward.
Rashford returned home from the World Cup on Sunday and now faces an uncertain future following a season-long loan spell at Barcelona last term, where he registered 14 goals and 14 assists in 49 appearances.
The England international enjoyed his time under Hansi Flick and had been keen to extend his stay at the Camp Nou after helping the Catalan giants win both La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup.
But Barca opted to turn down the £26million option they had to sign Rashford outright, with Borussia Dortmund and Germany star Karim Adeyemi expected to be unveiled as a like-for-like replacement this week.
According to The i Paper, Rashford holds no ill will towards United after he was effectively forced out of the club by previous manager Ruben Amorim, and the 28-year-old maintains a ‘good relationship’ with much of the dressing room.
Crucially, it’s claimed Rashford has an ‘ally’ in new head coach Michael Carrick and the United academy product will ‘most likely’ get an opportunity to resurrect his Old Trafford career next season.
While there has been ‘plenty of interest from across the European game’, the ‘most appealing’ exit options for Rashford have thus far come to nothing a month into the transfer window.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are all ‘keeping tabs’ on the situation as they scour the market for attacking reinforcements this summer.
However, senior figures at United are said to be ‘reluctant’ to offload Rashford to another Premier League club, fearing the potential ‘PR disaster’ should the winger begin firing on all cylinders again for an English rival.
The report adds that an unnamed Champions League side has emerged as the ‘priority’ for Rashford ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
Rashford still has two years remaining on his current contract at the Theatre of Dreams.
It remains to be seen if Rashford’s appearance in United’s Europa League clash with Viktoria Plzen back in December 2024 will turn out to be his last for his boyhood team.
After England’s World Cup campaign came to an end, Rashford vowed to spend ‘quality time’ with his loved ones before striving to return a ‘better version’ of himself next season.
‘Keep believing in us. Our time will come,’ he wrote on social media following the Three Lions’ semi-final defeat to Argentina.
‘Now it’s time for me to rest, reflect, spend some quality time with family and friends, and come back a better version of myself.’
Perhaps tellingly, Carrick refused to close the door on Rashford on the one occasion he addressed the forward’s future in the media.
‘I just think there’s decisions to be made in time, really, on certain things, and obviously Marcus is in that situation,’ he told reporters back in April.
‘But at this point in time nothing’s been decided.
‘And it will be, because it has to be at a certain point, but at this stage, there’s nothing to say.’
There has been some talk amongst Arsenal’s fanbase for the Gunners to explore a possible bid for Rashford – and these calls only intensified last week as Leandro Trossard departed the Emirates to join Besiktas.
But former Arsenal and England defender Martin Keown poured cold water on this speculation when asked if Rashford could be the player Mikel Arteta needs on the left wing.
‘I don’t see that. I’d be surprised if that happened,’ Keown told talkSPORT.
‘By the way, I thought actually that Rashford did well for Aston Villa. They didn’t have the money to buy these players so they had to pay them big wages. That’s a problem for Villa having to balance the books.
‘I just think maybe he [Rashford] went off the rails, lots of talk behind the scenes about what may have been issues. I think he’s back on track now.
‘It’s an interesting one when he goes back into Manchester United with Michael Carrick. Does he welcome him back in?
‘This talk of being in the city again. Is it a problem, is it a distraction? But I think he’s back on keel and you want to see these players at their best.
‘It’s a short career so get out there and play. Hopefully those problems are now behind him.’
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