Marcus Rashford has two games to change 'not a priority' view to land perfect Man United transfer

It doesn't take much of an imagination to picture Marcus Rashford lining up against Aston Villa in the Champions League next month rather than playing for them against Paris St-Germain in a mouth-watering quarter-final.

Rashford's camp flirted with PSG on several occasions during his United career, most notably when his brother Dwaine held a meeting with PSG officials in August 2022. At that time, he had less than a year left on his contract, with the option for a further year.

United weren't interested in doing business, and Rashford went on to have his best season for the club, earning that £350,000-a-week, five-year contract, but then never hit those heights again.

The Paris rendezvous in 2022 further soured relations between Rashford and his boyhood club, and Ruben Amorim drew a line in the sand towards the end of last year. A reunion now looks almost impossible, and the 27-year-old academy graduate will almost certainly be sold permanently this summer.

But for all the flirtations with PSG, that was never the club Rashford wanted. Despite moving there mid-season and finding some form, it wasn't Villa either. It was Barcelona and has always been Barcelona, but with the La Liga giants drowning under a mountain of debt, pulling enough levers to make it happen in January was never realistic.

"The winter market is always difficult. It's true that in the past, there have been important moments for Barca, like the arrival of [Edgar] Davids, but there is no Davids available today in the market," said Barcelona's sporting director Deco.

"It's tough because the good players, those who can contribute, are not available. It's true that Rashford was talked about, and he could have come, but we weren’t desperately looking for a