Why are Barcelona signing Rashford?

Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Ayo Akimolere. Marcus Rashford is set to sign for Barcelona, leaving his boyhood club Manchester United. But is it a deal that suits everyone? All right, with us today we have our Manchester United writer Karl Anka, as well as our football correspondent David Ornstein as well. David, Marcus Rashford, off to Barcelona, finalising his loan. Talk to us about this deal and how quickly it's materialised. This has been a long time coming because Marcus Rashford has been linked with Barcelona for many years. It actually came close, I don't even know, maybe four or five years ago. People will have to check some reporting at the time. It relates to Barcelona liking him and his style of play, his characteristics, and Marcus Rashford absolutely liking Barcelona and the idea of it. I think it would have been his preference in the January window when it was clear that he was surplus to requirements at Manchester United and Ruben Amorim was not counting on him. Barcelona weren't there or in the same position that they are now during the winter market and Aston Villa proved to be the destination. But interestingly, even with the Aston Villa transfer, intermediaries involved included Arturo Canales, who is very close to Barcelona. I'm sure that would have been explored at that time, even though it ended up at Aston Villa. He, of course, has links to Neymar as well. He has remained one of the intermediaries involved in the situation now. Therefore, it's clear that they were always going to come back to this possibility based on those connections, but also a preference from Marcus Rashford that did not diminish. Over the last number of weeks, I've been hearing optimism from around the situation that a deal could be done. Now, I don't think it's any disgrace by any means on Marcus Rashford that maybe Barcelona were favouring, or some within Barcelona were favouring, say, Luis Diaz and Nico Williams, for example. But Rashford was always there as a candidate they liked, who can operate in the wide attacking positions, who can operate upfront, that wanted to come to them, who had a conversation with Hansi Flick, the head coach, and Hansi Flick really liked him and gave his commitment to doing the deal. Of course, there are more people involved. You've got Laporta as president. You've got Deco as sporting director. But step by step, a lot of hard work went into presenting a package that would be suitable for Manchester United. And I think that maybe at one point Manchester United would have been looking for a sale. But we reported in the Athletic Deal Sheet a few weeks ago that Rashford himself was open to other possibilities, be it a loan, be it a swap deal or a permanent transfer. He also was prioritising a move abroad. So, his commitment was now firm to getting this done in some way, shape or form. And Manchester United, they really need to get shifting unwanted players so that they can be in a stronger position in terms of the incoming work they want to do, not only in terms of the finance, but in terms of the squad space. It's an unwanted situation, furthermore, to have the likes of Marcus Rashford, Garnaccio, Malasia, Sancho training at Carrington at set times. It's not a happy environment to be keeping. And so, everybody working on this, and it would have included Rashford's main representative and brother, Dwayne Maynard. It would have included individuals at Barcelona's end, of course, and Manchester United. Fair play in this sense that they've all managed to reach a consensus that involved a loan with an option to buy. It seems he'll be taking a bit of a salary reduction, but all of the salary is going to be paid by Barcelona, whatever that figure is. None of it by Manchester United. And then we'll see what happens at the end of it. I think everybody wishes Marcus Rashford well. It's a box office move. It's really exciting for football. And I think they've got to go through the final steps of medical, et cetera, and get it all boxed off. But it seems that Barcelona will be returning to the Nou Camp with Marcus Rashford in their team. And that's a bit of a mouth-watering prospect, and fair play to him in what's a World Cup year, let's not forget, that Marcus Rashford has big ambitions to get his club career back on track, maybe pick up where he left off at Aston Villa before that hamstring injury, and to earn a place in his national team. And meanwhile, Manchester United can crack on with their plans. And maybe it's a win-win all round. Yeah, good point, good point. Karl, Mark Richard wrote a piece on The Athletic right now, actually, stating that this is the final chapter, or it needs to be the final chapter at Manchester United for Marcus Rashford's career. Now with you and your Manchester United hat on, how do you feel about this departure? Because yet again, this is a player that was hailed of one of England national team's best. It was hailed as the future of Manchester United. It's a prized asset that Manchester United are letting go of. Any sad feelings about it, or is this a really great opportunity to have a fresh start? Not just with my Manchester United hat on, but also in the interest of clarity and visibility. I'm someone who's written books with Marcus Rashford as well. I think listeners should know that. There was some sadness when Marcus Rashford approached these January loan to Aston Villa. I was there for Rashford's final game in the United shirt to date, which was a Europa League game against Victoria Pilsen in the Czech Republic, and he did not have a good game. He looked very much off it. He didn't have a great first half, and he picked up a yellow card, and he was substituted shortly thereafter because he looked in danger of getting a second yellow card, and Reuben Amund took him off, it looked like, to save him from himself. Rashford has had excellent seasons in Manchester United shirt. He's also had seasons where he's been inconsistent and or injured. Now, there are tactical reasons into why he's not had great seasons. We can talk about, say, the 23-24 season where he's playing further away from goal and wider, where he ideally wants to be playing as a left inside forward, as a second striker. We can talk into team situations in that Marcus Rashford, if you're a left-sided, if you're an inside forward who likes to cut inside and shoot your stronger foot, that you tend to play better when you have an overlapping full-back who can help you break down the defence. When that overlapping full-back is someone like Luke Shaw, that means you can have seasons where you are phenomenal, because Luke Shaw, when he is there and fit and available, has been a phenomenal overlapping full-back. When Luke Shaw is injured, which has often been the case, Marcus Rashford has struggled. I think that has also played a part into that. I also think the relationship between Marcus Rashford and Manchester United has changed dramatically. He's gone from being a sort of willowy attacking Marcus Rashford, 39, who comes out of nowhere and scores nearly every single debut apart from his FA Cup debut, and he felt very much one of our own, to Marcus Rashford who goes to wearing the 19 shirt, who goes to wearing the number 10 shirt, who then becomes possibly, is Marcus Rashford good enough to win Manchester United the Premier League title? The answer to that now seems no. There's also the things he's done off the field, his charity work, his philanthropic cases as well. So Marcus Rashford, he's a football player that people who aren't into football talk about. My mum, who knows next to nothing about football, looked at England's Euro 2024 squad and went, where's Marcus Rashford? He's of that sort of entity. However, when you talk about him as a football player, he's not been at his top level for a little bit, and I think that has caused a strain between him, Manchester United the football club, Manchester United managers, more than one, it seems, and inevitably, Manchester United the fan base. So while there is a tinge of sadness that he's leaving, I think there is also an understanding that the best case scenario, or the best resolution to this, is Marcus Rashford to leave and hopefully reignite his football career elsewhere. I think if you are not a Marcus Rashford fan, you might be a little bit relieved that he has left Manchester United and his Wage Brothers off. If you are a Manchester United fan, you might be inclined to thinking, oh, thank goodness Marcus Rashford isn't at Manchester United anymore. So this is a deal that probably works for all parties. Yeah, for sure. David, let's flip it around. Marcus Rashford is on his way out, but who's on their way in to Manchester United? Any incomings? Because I've seen news of Brian Mbuemo finally getting it over the line at Manchester United. Well, that was the big target for Manchester United after the Cunha deal and with Liam De Lappe choosing to sign for Chelsea. I'll just wind it back a little bit. United came into this window with the finances available to do two deals without needing to sell. Their preferences were Matias Cunha, £62.5m release clause, Liam De Lappe, £30m release clause. I've got to say that Brian Mbuemo was always at the top of their list for a wide attacker. In and amongst that was Antoine Semenyo too. They held him in the highest of regards, but Mbuemo was above that. There was even a time where they might have gone for all three, Cunha, Mbuemo and Semenyo, in the absence of finding the number nine that they wanted after the De Lappe situation and with everything we've seen going on with Victor Iocres and other names. We'll come on to the number nine in a bit. But as it materialised, Manchester United have managed to close out deals for two top targets in Cunha and Mbuemo before they leave for their pre-season tour. So, a bit of credit where it's due. They've also scored a hell of a lot of goals. Yes, they come at reasonable prices, but perhaps they'll be seen in time as decent value for money when you look at some of the prices being committed elsewhere. After that, United are clearly going to focus on other areas. In no particular order, the goalkeeping department needs to be addressed in the view of United. That doesn't necessarily mean Andre Ananas is going to leave. He's got an injury at the moment. There may not be suitors for him. There may be. Let's see how that develops. We've seen a lot of speculation around Emi Martinez. We don't know of movement on that. There will be more goalkeepers in the frame as well. Number six is on the agenda as well. A defensive midfielder, no doubt. We'll see loads of names mentioned. We're going to have to respect the process in that because we don't have any information on development yet. Then, of course, the number nine. They want to sign a striker. We don't know of them actively moving on. SESCO, Watkins, reports on both in the last 24 hours before recording this. No doubt that they are on the list of Manchester United. They are on the list of pretty much every top club. Laurie Whitwell, our colleague, was first to report about Watkins. There have since been dispatches on SESCO because that possibility of Arsenal didn't materialise or any other club as things stand. Of course, things can change as the market goes on. Prices shift. They go up. Things become less possible. They come down. Things become more possible. They will have other options as well. I can't say the direction of travel on that just yet. There is a lot more work that needs to be done. They want to get rid of a load of players and that will raise some more funds on top of the Rashford salary saving, Carreras' sell-on income, the Anthony Alanga sell-on income. I know there is a lot of anxiety among all club fan bases right now about why are we taking so long to get our business done. Guys, we're in July. We're not even at the end of July yet by any means. We've got the whole of August yet I know everybody wants to get their squad settled before the season in an ideal world. Manchester United are by no means alone in not having that so far. They are ahead of quite a few clubs in what they've done. This is not a fine science nor is it easy. It's a decent start. Loads more to do. No doubt that will define or influence the success of Ruben Amorim and his team in the short term. One final point to make on that is that they might not be able to do all of their business or desired activity in this window. Some might have to come in January. Some might come the next summer. It may go in different directions but they are clearly working very hard at this. I'm really impressed by the two signings so far. I'm really impressed that they've managed to make the most of a very difficult situation on Rashford. But the sort of true judgment is in the weeks ahead. Carl, obviously Marcus Rashford off Manchester United's wage bill would be interesting in terms of what kind of business Manchester United are able to do moving forward but I wonder if you have a word for the fans as David said who are slightly anxious that the Manchester United team that are going to come into the new season, how can I put this politely, might not be as competitive as they might want them to be? Of course, of course. It makes total sense. This is a Manchester United squad that finished 15th in the league last season. They lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur. They will be without European football for the first time in just over a decade and while United are ahead of a number of clubs they also finish the season behind a number of other clubs and I think that that is the frustration, that is the fear, that is the difficulty. It's also, it's difficult for Manchester United because they do not have the transfer war chest that is very often, that word war chest is very often put across newspapers when a new manager comes in, oh we're going to give them a war chest of 200 million to spend. Amarin doesn't have that in part because previous war chests have been spent, your mileage may vary on how those war chests have been spent. I'm saying nothing. I think it's, I think it's very interesting if we talk about the current Manchester United five, which are now four, now Marcus Rashford seems to be departing, two of them are players, two of them, three, three of them were players signed for fees under the previous manager. One of them is an academy graduate. There was a two-year long process in getting Jadon Sancho over to Manchester United and now he seems to be on the move for a price that is a lot lower than the 120 million that Bruce O'Dorman initially quoted Manchester United in the summer of 2020. Anthony still remains one of the most expensive Premier League signings of all time and he now appears to be on, well not even appears to be, he is unwanted by Manchester United as well. So United don't necessarily have the big money to spend to get all of these players in. I think I've seen two or three United fans online say United should have bought, made four signings before the US tour has begun, to which I sort of hear my dad's old voice going, with what money? Absolutely, I think David is very, very good in reminding everyone about the picture going into this summer and that United really wanted to get Liam De Lappe, not only because he was a, he is a Premier League proven or Premier League tested striker, because that release clause of 30 million would have sold a bunch of headaches. We know Manchester United were among a number of clubs who had a meeting with De Lappe face-to-face but he opted to move to Chelsea and I think that threw a complication into a situation. Onana's injury and Onana's erratic form has caused complications here as well. So the difficulty here is United are in need of a rebuild. The problem is United have been in need of a rebuild for several seasons and one of the issues for United that perhaps doesn't affect other top six clubs is that they are in need of a rebuild and they're in need of trying to strengthen positions that in theory should have been strengthened two or three years ago with players that were bought for an excess of 50 million. So if Arsenal go out and buy a player north of 80 million, that player who's north of 80 million tends to still be in that team two seasons later. When Manchester United do that that doesn't appear to be the case. That's a really good way of putting it actually and you know on the subject of unwanted players David you know and by that I mean maybe Jadon Sancho, Anthony and also Garnaccio. Any news on what those outgoings might look like because we talk about you know Marcus Rashford's wage bill off their books might affect future business. I mean these off their books will definitely mean there might be some future business hopefully before the transfer window closes. Yeah hopefully from United's perspective and the players too but it's easier said than done. Jadon Sancho has been heavily rumoured to be closing in on a move to Juventus. That is not accurate as I understand it at all and I'm not quite sure where that's emanating from. There's an element of interest from Napoli for sure. Let's see how they weigh things up. They've brought in Noah Lang and so is that a viable possibility and I'm sure there will be more clubs interested in Jadon Sancho as the window develops. He didn't have a bad season with Chelsea and we know the talent that he possesses but he's on a very handsome salary at Manchester United and so that's a not only for them but for clubs who are looking to take him. But really at his technical and age profile I would expect possibilities to arise as the market moves on. Anthony is a different case. He had a extremely strong loan with Real Betis and no doubt there will be further interest maybe from them from elsewhere. In Spain in particular seems to be a happy hunting ground but unfortunately for United, patience is required to try and establish what sort of fee could be agreed on transfer and salary coverage. Is it a loan? Are there options? Melasio is probably less onerous for Manchester United from a financial perspective in terms of the salary but they do want to move him on. There may be other opportunities that arise as the window develops in other positions as well. The Anana situation seems to be unresolved and therefore another one is Rasmus Hoyland. Very good chance that he moves on and it could all be intertwined with Manchester United's progress on maybe a new striker that would educate them on what they'd be willing to part with Hoyland for because I think there is fair amount of interest in Hoyland even though I assume his desire would have been to stay and get things right at Manchester United but it doesn't always materialise how you want it. So I don't think there's reason for doom and gloom on that front but I think there is a need to allow time and these situations to develop. Okay David I know you've got a head off busy time for you but I appreciate you jumping on as well. Thank you. Pleasure guys as ever. All right joining us now is our Barcelona writer Paul Ballouz. Paul this is the big one. Marcus Rashford coming to Barcelona on a season-long loan. Big paycheck for wages and as we know in Barcelona money is always an obstacle. How are they affording this? Well I mean of course this is a good question and a question that we are asking in a way here but from all the names that we've been hearing around this summer I'm going to tell you what Marcus Rashford is going to be the easiest one to register and you might wonder why. Break it down. Yeah yeah and just the reason because of that is because it is a loan deal. It's not a signing and a permanent signing with a multi-year deal and everything which is what would have involved Nico Williams or Luis Diaz potentially if they had the money to do that which is not the case of course. But if you do this sort of deals you have to take into account the amortization of the player. You're gonna have to take into account the five years of salary that he's gonna have into a deal. You don't have to like advance for all this money beforehand but La Liga takes that into account when they have calculations of your salary limit. So Rashford is not gonna get into those figures so that's good in that regard and on top of that as we all know he's taking a pay cut which is going to be handy for Barcelona and with Gene away from my point of view and I think I've been saying that in podcasts and in everything that we've done over the past weeks. I think that from all the options that Barca had for that department Rashford was the sensible one as much as there are money concerns and everything. Rashford was the sensible one and yeah I'm sure that we can discuss more about that but I think that in a way Barca did the best that they could from the money that they had available of course. Paul you just saying it's only a loan deal so it's not as big on amortization and other regards that it sounds promising. It also sounds like to put my accountant hat on this sounds very much more like a rental rather than because it's an option to buy rather than an obligation to buy and if I'm looking at Barcelona's recent history of loans they loaned Yao Felix then gave him back they loaned Adama Traore then gave him back they've loaned Memphis the pie and they gave him back. Cancelo. Cancelo they've loaned and given him back obviously a ball hasn't been kicked yet but if everyone's now talking about Marcus Rashford does really well and he can be a Barcelona player going forward is from what you said there it sounds like Marcus Rashford could have a very good season at Barcelona but that doesn't necessarily mean Barcelona are inclined to make that deal permanent because of these long-standing financial problems. Absolutely absolutely and if I'm honest with you that was Barcelona's plan from day one. Barcelona never entertained the prospect of signing him on a permanent deal basically because it was impossible for Barcelona to do it or really difficult for Barcelona to do it. Barca knew that Rashford was crazy for the move was really keen on the move and that's something that has given them a strong hand in talks in negotiations in everything and that's why yeah as soon as they realized that okay we have to go for Rashford because Nick Williams is gone and Luis Diaz is not feasible that was the first offer basically that they put on the table because that's what they were able to do they know that it's a good scenario for Barcelona in terms of one as we were saying Rashford really in a way it's it feels like his last rescue boat or like the last of the last big chance that he has at this stage so he has a point to prove in that regard and two there's the World Cup ahead of of him so there's a lot of elements in there for Barcelona to be optimistic in rush for trying to be willing to prove a point trying to be yeah to join the club with this humbling perspective I'm not the main man here but I'm gonna try to make the best out of it and if Rashford joins the club with that mindset with the raw conditions that he has I think that it's a really good move for Barcelona then then of course there are a lot of caveats and you never know in football how this is gonna pan out but I think that the upside of that deal for Barcelona's pick and the downside is well the money that they will have to pay him this season but assuming that he's gonna take a and that all the other options that Flick had approved were more expensive than that um yeah it's not too bad for Barca yeah Carl this is interesting because with that in mind if for the minimum this is a year-long loan what does this represent then really for for Marcus Rashford a chance for redemption because if it's a chance for redemption for the football world I mean this is a massive gamble this is Barcelona you need to shine there's a whole heap of talent on that team and could this be I mean look with the World Cup in hand but this is massive for a lad like himself to back himself in such a way this is this is a one-season sprint it's a one-season sprint to show world football to show um clubs with aspirations of winning the Champions League that he can be a top level performer uh yes we're talking right now about Marcus Rashford taking a degree of a pay cut to get this loan deal through I don't think that's a pay cut that makes him uh let's use the word affordable for Brankford for example yeah I think this is a pay cut that still puts him in the realm of some of the highest paid players in Europe so Marcus Rashford will be 20 he's 27 now it'll be 28 29 post World Cup uh if we are now talking in the idea well one you want to have a good season because you want to get into the World Cup squad for England Thomas two you're gonna have a good season at Barcelona to uh can talk to Flick, Deco and others that hey you want to keep me and we can continue to have this conversation and try and try and find a way to get this deal done in a way that you possibly didn't get find a way to make the deal done for Nico Williams and then three in the event that Barcelona go hey that was a a fun year the accountants say no and shake your hand and go go go away that there's still a scenario where a team like say Bayern Munich or Inter Milan or I mean you can't go to Real Madrid now because you spent a year playing for Barcelona but you understand the idea that other clubs can do it I also think the quality of the squad at Barcelona and the way Hansi Flick has had them playing incredibly entertaining football since he's arrived means that the I've spoken before about the tactical problems or other issues that affected Manchester United so that made Marcus Rashford's game inconsistent they're largely not there anymore um I think it's probably there have been more than one there's been more than one player who's left Manchester United and then kicked on and had a great season to which people going oh wait maybe Manchester United were the issue I mean most notably is last season where Scott McTominay's gone from being a okay defensive midfielder to looking like a complete conqueror at Napoli and winning a Serie A title and look Scott McTominay was so good at Napoli last season I had to eat humble prayer and eat crow I didn't think he'd be that good and again Scott McTominay I'm so sorry you are so much better a football player than I thought you were um I think I think that's one of Marcus Rashford's objectives too of Marcus Rashford going actually the things people were saying about me being inconsistent or things people were saying about me um not understanding some of the defining nuances of attacking play have more to do with just the other issues at Manchester United rather than me so can he do it I hope so because if he can't then it becomes a very very interesting juncture in his career yeah I can also say though Paul that I mean we talk about where he might be playing or how frequently he might be playing because you've got the likes of Rafinha, Almo, Fernand Torres, Lewandowski an incredible attacking lineup um but I just think about Hansi Flick and actually what he offers a player like Marcus Rashford if you want to you know maintain your um your worth over this season a team that knows itself and a coach that knows what he wants to achieve and a bit of I've rarely used this word for Barcelona consistency I mean that's not a bad place to slot in surely for a season at least no no absolutely and I think that from the tactical perspective um well for a start right now when you ask Barca they see Rashford uh coming in as a left winger that's just to lay it out uh because number nine is going to be Lewandowski and the backup is is Ferran Torres in that they see Ferran Torres as a number nine right now um and the starting point of Rashford is going to be a left winger of course it can change and now it's gonna flick it's gonna assess him in training and everything but the idea that they have right now is this uh then if you analyze how Barca play um in attack they are basically relying on Lamin Yamal of course and he structures all the attack and he's the focal point in the right-hand side then Lamin Yamal likes to cut in and just to be a bit more inside and as he cuts in he just looks up and see what's available and this is a space that if Rashford is sharp enough he can take a lot of advantage of I mean he's not gonna be that required or he shouldn't be that required to make things happen on the ball or like being like a standstill and just burst into um but he's gonna be asked to read the spacing and you have a lot of players such as Lamin Yamal but Pedri as well players that can keep the ball and just have players just close to them that they are not going to lose the ball and once they have players close to them there's like a lot of free space for other players and that's what Rashford will need to be reading and just to be willing to run in behind and stuff like this and then the biggest challenge in my opinion is going to be the work of the ball Flick for the way that he plays he needs relentless pressers upfront and people that is willing to follow orders and to yeah just to follow the patterns that they have for pressing because that's vital with the high line that they have um in the defensive end um Lewandowski as much as they are happy with him he's 37 he's gonna be 37 now there's the vision inside the club that he might not be able to play the same amount of games that he played last season and that's gonna be assume that it's a price to pay um so that's another reason for Rashford because last season if we go back to last season when Barca played in the in crunch time of last season that they played against uh Real Madrid Inter and Real Madrid I think that was the other I don't remember now yeah um but in that stretch of games Lewandowski was injured and Flick basically only had Rafinha that was the front line and they were knackered this guy's saying only he's talking about Rafinha I mean yeah no no yeah no I mean it's unbelievable it's a hard life Paul it's a hard life yeah no well I mean you're playing once every two days I was watching his team playing Mikel Mourinho as a false nine please some humility no disrespect look at your crowd Paul and they they had Hoyland up front I mean sorry I'm in a group of victims sorry about that yeah I didn't pretend that one thing I'm interested in because you've mentioned Rashford as the left winger where does this leave Rafinha because Rafinha had a phenomenal season last season so with this sort of this Rafinha is the number 10 now or yeah so that's the thing like because when we imagine Barcelona last season Rafinha was the left winger but if you really analyze where he actually played in in the pitch he was more of a number 10 he just dip inside and Flick likes him a lot being this sort of central roaming force that can run him behind and everything yeah and the width was provided by Alejandro Valde in the left hand side so maybe Rashford can be the one who pins like on the left wing and just Rafinha comes in there's been a lot of talk of Dani Olmo being used as a false nine as well so basically it gives Flick a new layer of options in there and you you just can play around if Rafinha is used practically as a number 10 which was the case last season there's still a gap for Rashford in there so that's why I was saying that left wing is possibly now the spot that is more envisioned in Barcelona for Rashford okay um Karl Paul talks about tactical discipline and he talks about the orders that Hansi Flick likes to you know give his men to to obey um Marcus Rashford is very capable of that but only recently Rupert Ruben Amorim was saying how you know saying how much he criticizes defensive work you know is this something Barcelona fans have to worry about or does this actually seem because of because it's really technically a year as we're looking at he's probably in a space to impress as opposed to try and have the trials and tribulations he was probably facing at Manchester United this is a real this one could go down to a coin toss I think Marcus Rashford at best can be classed as an inconsistent defender okay or inconsistent presser um I think he would truly admit it's not the strongest part of his game and I think that has caused friction with him and the fan base and with more than one Manchester United coach he he was okay Ralph Ragnick was only an interim manager but Ralph Ragnick he likes pressing uh and I think that might have caused some friction there and and I think the way Eriksen Haag reorganized the team during Rashford's career year that reduced some of the defensive burden on Marcus Rashford and he responded with 30 goals in all competitions but also it is it is it is it is a huge contributing factor to to him and perhaps may I want to use the word hesitant to perhaps commit to to a large sale about him in that look Marcus Rashford is not the only talented left-sided inside forward who doesn't really defend all the time that we can talk about we can look at Real Madrid we can talk about Kylian Mbappe we can talk about Vinicius jr we can look at AC Milan and talk about Raphael Leal in that these are all incredibly talented football players on the ball but then off the ball their application and the consistency of their application has caused frustration and conversation with managers and their fan bases I think Rashford in having a year-long sprint and having these objectives he has to get more consistent in I think one thing that is in his favor is that Rashford when he is fit has had a reputation at least in the last couple of weeks previously of being a dedicated trainer when he's fit he's at I mean he's athletically there's been two or three times that Rashford is running in a straight line and you're going that boy is running 100 meters in 12 seconds or sub 12 seconds and that that is a something Hansi Flick likes and I think one difference between Hansi Flick's Barcelona and Xavi's Barcelona and Paul please correct me there is that um if I'm wrong here is the level of fitness this this Barcelona team on the on the flick is a lot fitter a lot more athletically robust there I think the fact that Rashford is a an attack is an attacking player who likes to run in behind defenses rather than say come to feet more he did come into feet a little bit more towards the end of his time at Manchester United which I think can frustrate because again you're going Marcus you are one of the fastest players in the world while you drop in deep to receive run that way uh if you can run that way and you've got players like Petri giving through balls and you've got Lamine Yamal getting his head up and doing things you've got Dani Almo looking up and doing things Rashford could have huge opportunities to score at the back post in particular there but then this is the thing can Rashford be the running in behind threat instead of the drop deep and coming into feet threat can he be uh the the defender that Hansi Flick will want him to be I think Balde is going I would not be surprised if by Christmas Balde is all over Marcus Rashford's Instagram account and they're hugging and having loads of time hanging out because because as we said previously Rashford tends to play better when he's got a left back you can do loads of overlapping runs on whole width and Balde can do that so those two and their relationship on left wing if that goes well will be really beneficial to him I the idea of Rashford playing slightly wider as Rafinha's cutting inside hmm question mark about that one because Rashford wants to cut inside and shoot as well so there are questions over whether or not that can be a traffic jam so it's this is one where it tactically makes sense but there are also a lot of you can put maybe call it asterisks maybe you can call it a footnote but there are loads of things in there that mean I can't quite call it a slam dunk yeah yeah you can call it a layup um there are there are two or three things that need to get sorted out both from Hansi Flick and both from Marcus Rashford there as well yeah in a natural way I think that Rashford is going to understand that he's not he's possibly not getting into this toxic um dynamics that he had imagined in terms of yeah you don't run too much I mean he's going to run because yeah he's going to have to um and that's what Barcelona basically are hoping that they are getting a play that is so willing not just to join the club but to put himself in disposal of the of the tactics and the system and the setup that Hansi Flick has I think he has to run because I mean Barcelona as we've just joked before Barcelona are very well stopped so if he doesn't run or if he doesn't necessarily listen to Hansi Flick's instructions okay well they'll play Rafinha at left wing instead if he doesn't want to do that then Dani Almo can go in there and and the Barcelona machine just keeps on keeps on trucking it I'll be fascinated to see how this goes on here because it should make sense and yet I'm pulling a face I'm just jealous man I mean it's a bag of riches I'm not gonna lie it's really how greedy so true though how greedy of Barcelona to pull out another amazing attacking talent I mean it's a year long but wow I can't wait to see how it all works right let's move on all right little fact check but Rashford will become the first English player since Gary Lineker to play for Barcelona Gary left in 1989 Paul that's 36 years ago I think he's just one of three Englishmen to play for Barcelona I think Mark Hughes played for Barcelona but obviously he is Welsh now big question why have so few English players played for Barcelona is it is it an English player tax thing or just not a style thing yeah no I think that there's like uh like the starting point is right now English players are expensive and that they earn so much money and the Premier League is a league that pays well is a league that suits their sort of upbringing of course it's not easy to take a young player let's say from an academy join La Liga club it's impossible basically so yeah there's a lot of reasons for that and I think that if you're an English player with the current setup of the industry the path that you have to go to Spain are either or just don't find your place in the Premier League be out of contract and try to revamp your career going to a Pilla Real Betis sort of that or be a Trent Alexander-Arnold Jude Bellingham this sort of level of players that yeah go just to an extra level and that Real Madrid and Barcelona can do the effort to sign in that regard possibly Rashford falls more into the first category but he's not going to a Pilla Real of course he's going to a Barca because he has that that skill set basically but I think that's the main reason because for how the industry is built it's so difficult for for this to happen now. And I've been to Barcelona I'm sure Carl's tasted Barcelona. I've been to Primavera Music Festival. You're a Barcelona resident talk to me if you were advising Marcus Rashford right now on that transition from Manchester to Barcelona what are you saying to him man? What is he to expect? Yeah no I mean I've lived in Manchester seven years and I'm from Barcelona and I'm telling you something I mean when Rashford gets his head out of the window in his home I don't think that he's gonna miss a lot looking at the sky and I love Manchester don't get me wrong I went to Manchester last weekend I went at one of the Oasis gigs and I love Manchester but it's just not the same he's not gonna I don't think that he's gonna struggle with life at the city I mean possibly like more more like the other fact you can get too comfortable in this city you can get too used to that city and that's one thing that you have to take into account but yeah I still like in myself I think that he's so there's so much at stake for him with this move that he better like make it work basically. Did you buy that Carl? I see it as a breath of fresh air away from the English media a new environment a new culture for instance I mean that there's a lot to be relished here but Paul is right he needs to make this work. He does need to make this work and Paul is absolutely right about how Barcelona is lovely but also but that you can it is you they've got beaches you can very easily you can very easily go on a night on Barcelona and not get home until four o'clock in the morning and I'm sure you've done that. This is very true. I've never done that I've never done so so so there is that it's it this is this is not quite at the level of Michael Owen when he was at Real Madrid and he talked about how he would constantly go outside to the hotel to pick up copies of the newspaper because there was only one of English. The culture shock is not as large as it used to be. I am aware now of the very very large aspects of pastoral care that these European super clubs are now offering their top players to make sure language and the possible language barriers are are not the same level that they used to be. I remember years ago where Callum Hudson-Odoi when he was pitched by Bayern Munich and Bayern sort of explained how they'd help him learn German and they'd pair him up with certain individuals so he wouldn't be alone and have no one to talk to as well. So okay but it's only alone but I'm sure Rashford will make friends or have the opportunity to make friends very very quickly at Barcelona. But as Paul said and as we're all sort of playfully skirting around ideally for this to work Rashford needs to not enjoy too many things in Barcelona because he's spending loads of time in the gym and he's spending loads of time watching X's and O's footage in in on the training ground and he's spending doing this and doing that and having long conversations with Balve about when I do this you do this and when I do this you do this. So this is the the the coin flip when you go to a football team as good as Barcelona in a city as good as Barcelona as well. Okay you're not going to be in subject to the English media you are going to be discussed by the Barcelona media and you are also going to be discussed by the Madrid media. So I mean 18 months ago if I told you Classico is going to have Trent Alexander-Arnold up against Marcus Rashford. That's a good point yeah what a storyline. The eyebrows would have flown off your face and I'm sure Rashford if he does play in a Classico he will get an outsized amount of attention in a way that Danny Olmo will not get because Marcus Rashford regardless of English media or not is still one of the most recognizable football players in the world. So he has to do well because he has to put himself in the shop window not just for Barcelona but for everyone in world football who can afford him. So all power to you I'm not going to send you a recommendation of my favourite Carver place in Barcelona. Let alone the food we haven't even spoken about the food. All right real talk though Paul you spoke about skill set earlier and I personally think he's off the stature and a skill set that could work in La Liga because potentially he's offered a little bit more space than maybe he would be in the Premier League. That's a matter of opinion but do you think he has the skill set to thrive in La Liga? I don't think so. I think that the skill set is to be a world star if I'm honest. I mean I remember the day that Marcus Rashford his debut against Midtjylland I was at Old Trafford and that year I was blown away by Marcus Rashford that whole year like and I think that I've spoken to Premier League managers that have faced him over the years and they I mean they have like nothing bad to say about the raw talent that he has. I mean it's all there and I think that this sort of players can adapt to anything and he will adapt to La Liga. I sort of disagree with the fact that he will have more space because Barcelona basically all the teams that they face they are like low block and he's gonna have to live with that and that's why this is why Balde is probably so important and the left back is so important. Yeah and that's why I was saying that the best thing that in my opinion right now and I'm just like making a movie in my mind but I think that that the best thing for him is just to understand that he can be really good off the ball and just leave the on the ball duties to players like Pedri, Dani Olmo, Lamin Yamal who they're really good in short spaces they can attract a lot of attention and then boom just launch it to Rashford. This is how Rafinha made of an outstanding season last season possibly the best of his career in what we're gonna see in the coming years possibly as well. And I think that Rashford has to learn from it and take that role into it. I think that by the way Carl did a really nice point about his feet in the dressing room and the cultural barrier and I think it's fair to point out that I think that he's gonna have no problem because Flick speaks in English. He gives a lot of the directions in training in English. Up front Rafinha speaks perfect English, Lewandowski speaks perfect English, Lamin Yamal speaks English. He doesn't dare to speak in Polish but he can speak in English. Someone's hiding their real personality. I mean he's still a bit shy and he doesn't dare to have a proper conversation but he understands English perfectly. Frankie De Jong, Dani Olmo speaks English so he's gonna have no problem in that regard. Gents let's leave it there. Carl, Paul thank you so much for your time and also David for joining us early and also thank you guys for watching as well. Don't forget to like the video and also subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and don't forget to leave us a comment as well. Right that's it we're back soon. If you want to watch more episodes of the show please subscribe to the channel. We'll be joined by the likes of David Ornstein, Matt Slater, Adam Crafton, Karl Anka and plenty more food this season. If you'd like to listen to the episodes in full in audio form search The Athletic FC wherever you get your podcasts from.