Barcelona Reportedly Unwilling To Pay $35 Million To Retain Marcus Rashford

Barcelona want to extend Marcus Rashford's stay at Camp Nou but are unwilling to use the £26 million (€30m) buy option in his loan deal due to the club's ongoing financial difficulties. The Catalan giants have made contact with Manchester United to try and either negotiate a lower price or a second loan for the 2026-27 season which would include a mandatory purchase option.

Rashford is in the midst of an enjoyable first season with Barcelona after joining on loan in the summer. The England international has seven goals and eight assists from 27 appearances in all competitions and picked up his first silverware as a Barca player on Sunday after helping the Catalan giants beat Real Madrid 3-2 in the final of the Supercopa de Espana. Rashford will be aiming for more trophies before his loan deal comes to an end, with Barca currently top of the table in Spain, into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey and hoping to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Barcelona are hoping to keep hold of Rashford and have opened talks with Manchester United to try and reach an agreement that would see the forward sat the club, per talkSPORT. The Catalans are unwilling to pay his buy option but are hoping to be able to negotiate a lower price or another loan. Manchester United would rather sell Rashford this summer, but it remains to be seen if an agreement can be struck between the two teams. Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has already made it clear how highly he rates Rashford, telling reporters in December that he's been impressed by the way he's handled being a substitute: "I try to speak to every player when they are not selected, and the last time I checked with him he replied me ‘boss, you don’t have to tell me about