Despite recent suggestions that Marcus Rashford was the third-choice option of Barcelona, because they wanted to sign a striker this summer, Mail Sport can reveal that the Manchester United Forward always wanted to bring the player Barca Sporting Director Deco to the club.
The Spanish champions came close to signing the 27-year-old in January, but their financial difficulties saw the deal going through. When it was back on track this summer, Nico Williams's attempt to become a member of Barca almost destroyed Rashford's dream.
But now he can easily rest after he has left his life as United Cast-Off to become Barcelona's Headline summer drawing and their first Englishman since Gary Lineker left in 1989.
Rashford will train this week under head coach Hansi Flick and on Thursday with Lamine Yamal and the company to fly to Japan for a 10-day Asian tour, despite the fact that he is not yet eligible to play for Barca.
The club cannot currently register new signing sessions, but the willingness of Rashford to take a calculated gamble that he is eligible by the time the season starts, has cleared the road for his arrival.
Barcelona identified Rashford as a quality solution for their shortage of money and strikers last January, but the deal was dependent on Ansu Fati who left the club and he refused to move, so the arrival of Rashford was parked.
Deco met Rashford's agent and brother Dwaine Maynard in Barcelona at the end of May, and the exchange only strengthened his conviction that the English attacker was the ideal reinforcement for a forward line that only Ferran Torres in reserve has three of Yamal, Raphinha and 36-year-old Robert Lewandski.
Then, on June 9, everything seemed to change. It was the day after the Nations League final between Spain and Portugal who lost the Spaniards on penalties. The reaction of Athletic Bilbao Winger Williams to the disappointment was to set up his agent to get in touch with Barcelona again.
Williams, 23, had almost become at Barca at the start of the previous season and now he wanted everything possible to make the switch.
Yamal was very excited – as he had done 12 months earlier – with the prospect of a player he calls his 'brother' with him, and it seemed that Rashford was no longer the first choice. Williams agreed with Barcelona and the club agreed in principle to pay his £ 52 million release clause.
But there were still important voices – among them – who believed that Rashford was the better option. This was because if Williams came, he would demand a starting place and run the risk of creating problems in a team that was in total harmony and free of ego last season. In the meantime, Rashford would come in with none of those requirements and could play through the middle when needed.
The move from Williams to Barca collapsed at the start of this month and although some people called it a shame for the club, Deco was more than happy.
The Spain -wing player had demanded contractual guarantees that he would be registered on time for the new season and wanted a clause with which he could leave for free if there were problems. Barca said no to those requirements and picked up the phone to Rashford.
Rashford was depicted by some in the Catalan media as an alternative to Luis Diaz in Liverpool, supposedly Barca's new first-choice option, but the cold reality for the club was that the £ 69m assessed attacker was never within their budget.
Barcelona received a fine of £ 13 million last month by UEFA for breaches of financial exhibition – a punishment that could rise to £ 52 million if they do not get their bills in order – and they also still falter the losses they have made from two seasons playing at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, with its capacity of 40,000, while the NOW -Kamp, while the NOW -Kamp, is well -camp.
They also had to pay a huge bill for players who had left for a long time at the beginning of the summer, but afterwards wages were owed. Lionel Messi received about £ 5.2 million on 30 June and his Inter Miami teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets were also owed for wages postponed during the Covid Pandemic.
Another factor in favor of Rashford was the fact that many Barcelona supporters were not convinced by the idea of signing Diaz.
'Look at what Antony did at Real Betis' an often broadcast view, by pointing out the way in which United is now seen as a club where good players fail, but can be revitalized elsewhere.
If it doesn't work for Rashford this season, Barca is not obliged to sign it permanently, although they have the option to buy it for £ 40 million next summer. The Catalans will pay the wage of Rashford, but the attacker agreed to take a 15 percent reduction at £ 315,000 per week package package to facilitate the deal.
La Liga will want to close the deal closely so that they can decide whether Barca can register him.
The club had to balance all their books to register Joan Garcia, the goalkeeper she drew from Buren Espanyol last month, and Wojciech Szczesny, who agreed to stay in the club after his previous deal had passed.
Last year, Barcelona president Joan Laporta announced that the club had sold the 30-year rights to VIP boxes that will be present in the recently renovated Nou-Camp for £ 83 million. He wants that money to be checked as an immediate income, but La Liga is reluctant to agree to this, because the renovation work in the stadium is still completed for a year.
It was supposed to be open with a reduced capacity of 60,000 for a pre-season-friendly against Como on 10 August, but the work is not complete, so that curtain booster will take place in the small Johan Cruyff Stadium on the club's training field.
Barca asked this season to leave their first three games to be away from home and will not play in the new Nou-Camp until September 14, but even that date depends on the club that is aware of health and safety.
The sale of goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen would decrease around £ 17 million from the wage account and enable them to register Rashford, Garcia and Szczesny, but Ter Stegen has three years left over a lucrative contract and the club told that he does not want to leave.
The agent from Ter Stegen looks at options to move him private individuals, and if that happens, the money will be there to register Rashford.
Defenders Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo are both offered for sale, and Barca is also looking for potential lovers of their enormously talented attacking midfielder Fermin Lopez, but at the moment none of those players are looking close to the departure.
Last season Dani Olmo joined Barcelona of RB Leipzig, but had to sit outside the first three games before he was acquitted to play. The feeling is that Barca Rashford will register, but perhaps only after a similar battle.
Barca will speak every financial sacrifice that the player has brought him to take him with his new supporters, and there is genuine conviction that he can be revived by Flick, who speaks perfect English and has already spoken to Rashford.
Rashford as an English speaker is used well during the upcoming Asian tour, and that is another reason that Barca wanted to do the deal quickly. An English-speaking player will help the club get the most out of their Philips Ambilight TV-sponsored tour through Japan and South Korea.
The club has looked jealous of how Real Madrid used the enormous attraction of Jude Bellingham in the English -speaking world, but now they have their own English international.
Barcelona believes that this is their last year in the financial mud. By the start of the 2026-27 season, the well-camp will be completed and will work with its full capacity of 105,000.
The club also fights with La Liga for the right to spend a euro for every euro they generate-the so-called 1: 1 rule. A large part of recent years they are limited to a rule of 1: 5, which means that if they sell a player for € 50 million, they can only spend € 10 million.
There is light at the end of the tunnel for Barca and that will also be the case for Rashford if he can fit in the side that every other team defeated in Europe last season.