Rashford and Manchester United: the reunion nobody expected

For much of the past year, the assumption around Marcus Rashford was that he would not be part of Manchester United's 2026-27 squad. Now, barring a late twist, that is exactly where he is heading. Rashford joined Barcelona in July 2025 on a season-long loan and helped the club to the La Liga title, the Spanish Super Cup and the Champions League quarter-finals, contributing 11 goals and 14 assists along the way. Barcelona, though, declined to trigger the £26m purchase clause in the deal, and United had already given his number 10 shirt to new signing Matheus Cunha. The 28-year-old's contract at Old Trafford runs until 2028. The chances of another loan faded when Barca signed Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund on 23 July, following the arrival of Anthony Gordon. Rashford posted a farewell message on 30 July, and the next day Barcelona coach Hansi Flick called him a fantastic player and person, adding that the team miss him. Now the debate shifts to whether Rashford can have a positive impact back at United. His £325,000-a-week wages make him the club's top earner while minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe tries to control the wage bill, United's biggest expense. Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans arrived for £35m on 14 July, but activity has slowed since. If Rashford stays, the search for a left-sided attacker or another striker becomes more complicated, and so does the wage calculation. Fans are split. Some read his falling-out with Ruben Amorim as proof he had lost the desire to play for his boyhood club, especially after he looked sharper at Aston Villa, with England and at Barcelona. Others believe a local player of his quality deserves another chance, particularly under Michael Carrick, with whom he is said to get on well. Carrick was his teammate for 32 of Rashford's 138 United goals and later coached him during a three-game interim spell in 2021. Rashford is 15th on United's all-time scoring list, 17 goals behind Paul Scholes in 10th. The club must also weigh whether £26m could buy anyone of similar quality, which is the fee Barcelona passed on. If United follow the same schedule they used for players returning from the World Cup, Rashford will be at the Maynooth training camp next week. A first outing could come against AC Milan, managed by his former boss Ruben Amorim, in Wroclaw on 15 August, though Carrick may have a decision to make about using him against Leeds at Croke Park on 12 August after only a couple of training sessions.