Should Rashford leave Man United? Striker’s transfer options

What next for Marcus Rashford? It is a question that has been asked with increasing regularity about the Manchester United forward in recent months, but after being dropped from Ruben Amorim’s squad for Sunday’s dramatic derby victory at Manchester City, the 27-year-old’s future at the Premier League club is once again in doubt.

United head coach Amorim attempted to play down the ramifications of his decision to omit Rashford, along with winger Alejandro Garnacho, from his squad by saying “next week, next game, new life” and insisting: “They will compete for a place in the team if they are better than the other guys in all the situations, inside and outside the pitch.”

So the message is clear; meet expectations on and off the pitch and there is a future in Amorim’s team. But while Garnacho’s absence from the squad at the Etihad was a surprise and the first instance of the 20-year-old being left out of a first-team game, Rashford’s omission was merely another episode in a troubled recent past for the player.

The England forward was at the centre of a number of disciplinary issues under former manager Erik ten Hag. Those included being dropped for over-sleeping ahead of a game at Wolverhampton Wanderers in December 2022 and being left out of the squad for an FA Cup tie at Newport County last season after missing training following a night out in Belfast.

Amorim also hinted at dissatisfaction with Rashford and midfielder Casemiro travelling to the United States during the last international break by saying it would have “for sure” been managed differently had he been in charge when a decision was taken about the players’ arrangements during their time away from the club. But while Rashford has been under the spotlight for his off-field lifestyle, his performances on the pitch have seen him lose his England place and miss out on Euro 2024 as well as become a bit-part player at United.

Rashford has scored seven goals in 24 appearances in all competitions this season, after contributing just eight goals in 43 games last term. His star is beginning to fade, but having signed a four-and-a-half year contract at United worth £325,000 a week in July 2023, kickstarting his career away from Old Trafford will be difficult for financial reasons due to the cost to a new club of taking him on. Rashford does have options, but some are likely to be more appealing than others.

Stay at United

Remaining at Old Trafford and working to rediscover his best form should be the best option, both for Rashford and United, and Amorim has left the door open for the player to fight to earn back his first-team place. But it seems clear that Amorim’s patience will only last for so long and Rashford is entering final chance territory.

“You understand for so long we try something with Rash, it doesn’t work,” Amorim said after the City game. “Let’s continue to do the same thing or try something different? It’s as simple as that.”

So if the shock therapy doesn’t work, Rashford could be heading for the exit in January, despite the financial implications of United having to offload a player on huge wages whose transfer value has plummeted. Which is why United need Rashford to find a way back to his best. He has pace, a goal threat and has shown in the past to be capable of scoring big goals in big games. Amorim can certainly use a player like that in his team.

It is down to Rashford now. There would be some advantage to United in offloading him in terms of benefiting from the so-called pure profit of a fee for a homegrown player, which could then be reinvested in the squad. But ultimately, an in-form Rashford is a player United would be better with than without.

Join a Premier League rival

The Premier League might be the richest league in the world, but Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) are now making every club consider every financial implication of a transfer. That, combined with intense club rivalries, makes it impossible to see a domestic escape route for Rashford.

At 27, he is too old for Chelsea‘s profile of signing players under the age of 24 and too expensive in terms of fee and wages for Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal are in need of extra goals, but Rashford is unlikely to shift Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli from the team and, in Raheem Sterling, the Gunners have already taken one, so-far unsuccessful, gamble on an established forward this season. Liverpool and Manchester City are non-starters, primarily for rivalry reasons, but also because neither would want a player who is so obviously failing at United right now.

Beyond the top clubs, Newcastle United and Aston Villa would struggle to get a move for Rashford off the ground due to PSR issues and no other Premier League team would have the funds to make it happen.

If Rashford’s time at United is up, the best financial option for the player and club would be a transfer to Saudi Arabia, where clubs are allowed to sign up to eight non-Saudi players born before 2003 in a 30-man squad.

All of the leading teams, including Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al Nassr and Neymar‘s Al Hilal, have a full quota of non-Saudi players heading into the January window, but Rashford’s status as a star player would likely see a squad place freed up by a top Saudi team if he were to become available. Rashford could expect a salary in excess of his United wages in the Saudi Pro League and United would also be able to offload the player for a realistic fee and shift almost £17 million off their wage bill, so it is easy to see why such a move would appeal.

But from a sporting perspective, would Rashford consider a move to Saudi Arabia that would almost certainly end his hopes of returning to the England squad in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup? That is the hurdle that must be overcome if Saudi Arabia is to become a realistic destination for Rashford. But with his international career in cold storage, the financial benefits of Saudi Arabia are likely to be more enticing than they would have been 12 months ago.

The one other lucrative option outside of Saudi Arabia would be Turkey, but while the top Turkish teams — Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Besiktas — will pay big wages, they don’t have a tradition of paying big fees. Galatasaray signed Victor Osimhen on loan from Napoli in September, so a loan deal could be a possibility, but it’s unlikely.

PSG were interested in signing Rashford two summers ago, but the French champions’ interest did not develop into a confirmed bid for the player. Sources at United have told ESPN that PSG’s interest was one factor in the club handing Rashford his new contract in 2023, but there has been no hint of any renewed efforts to take him to Parc des Princes.

Having pursued and signed some of the biggest names in the game including Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi, PSG have now moved away from that superstar recruitment policy to focus on signing the best emerging talent in France and beyond. So at 27, with his best days seemingly behind him, Rashford would appear to hold little interest to PSG.

But with the club struggling to qualify for the Champions League knockout phase (though they are seven points clear at the top of Ligue 1 and remain unbeaten domestically,) PSG might believe that Rashford could add experience in a key position. But that is likely to be a forlorn hope for the United player.

If United are ready to listen to offers to sign Rashford in January, sources have told ESPN that the Bundesliga would become an option if they were prepared to consider a loan move similar to that which helped revitalise Jadon Sancho‘s career at Borussia Dortmund last season.

Sancho had been frozen out by Ten Hag and his situation was much worse than Rashford’s having been overlooked for the first team for almost six months. At Dortmund, Sancho found his best form and helped the club reach the Champions League final before earning a summer move to Chelsea.

No Bundesliga team, including Bayern Munich, possesses the funds to pay a transfer fee and take on Rashford’s wage, but Sancho highlighted the benefits of the loan option and both Bayern and Dortmund could get such a deal over the line.

Bayern and United could also play out a mutually beneficial deal involving the German club’s out of contract players. Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sané and Alphonso Davies all enter the final six months of their contracts at the Allianz Arena next month and if United believed that any of those players would improve Amorim’s options, deals could be struck that would appeal to both clubs.

A move to Germany would give Rashford the chance to kickstart his career like Sancho, but it could also work out for United, either in terms of boosting his transfer value or opening the door to a deal for a player in part-exchange.

Rashford is a big fan of U.S. sports — his controversial trip in the international break saw him take in a New Yorks Knicks game — and he has previously spent time in the States to work on his fitness. Sources have told ESPN that a move to MLS at some stage in his career would hold great appeal.

However, there are too many obstacles in the way of Rashford heading across the Atlantic anytime soon. Firstly, United would expect a significant transfer fee for a player under contract until June 2028, so that is the biggest issue for any MLS team. But with Rashford also one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League, it would take a salary second-only to Lionel Messi at Inter Miami to convince Rashford to move to the U.S. at the age of 27.

Even if Rashford to MLS was a realistic prospect, only Inter Miami and perhaps the two Los Angeles teams — LAFC and LA Galaxy — could even consider a move, so for now, MLS isn’t a credible option.

Sources have told ESPN that neither United or Rashford can count on interest from Spain’s LaLiga or Italy’s Serie A due to the financial strain being experienced by the leading teams in each country.

Only Real Madrid could potentially fund a move for Rashford right now and there is zero interest from the European champions, not only because of his poor form but because Carlo Ancelotti’s squad is already stacked with some of the world’s best attacking talent. Barcelona don’t have the money or the appetite to pursue Rashford, and while Atletico Madrid could consider a deal on loan or at a knockdown fee, it is difficult to imagine Rashford having the credentials required to play in a Diego Simeone team.

The landscape is just as bleak in Italy, where favourable tax breaks for high-earning footballers were scrapped by the government earlier this year. Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan would once have been able to attract players on big wages because of those tax benefits, but they no longer apply. Napoli and Roma have previously been able to sign big players on big contracts, but they are also now having to work differently, so Italy is likely to be off limits to Rashford, just like Spain.

Verdict

The reality for Rashford is that he likely has two options: sit it out and fight his way back into form and favour at United, or move to Saudi Arabia.

Right now, neither might hold great appeal to the player because staying at United will require pressing the reset button on and off the pitch, and moving to Saudi would effectively put his top-level career on hold.

Germany would perhaps be the best option for Rashford and maybe even United, but unless Bayern or Dortmund show any interest — and there is no sign of that yet — it will be a case of United or Saudi. And if he doesn’t impress Amorim soon, his options will become even more limited.