La Liga giants Barcelona are moving increasingly away from the potential permanent signing of Marcus Rashford.
This comes amid confirmation that the Englishman’s recent performances have not impressed those behind the scenes in Catalunya’s capital.
Rashford has of course enjoyed a statistically solid campaign to date, since linking up with Barcelona on loan from Manchester United.
All told, the 28-year-old has racked up 12 goals and 13 assists across all competitions.
Upon Raphinha going down with a recent injury, the hope on the part of Hansi Flick and co. was therefore that Rashford would step up in place of the Brazilian.
As per a report from The Athletic, however:
‘Club sources believe he had a golden chance to make his mark, and that he did not fully take it. The Champions League quarter-final tie against Atlético did him no favours.’
So much so that, after it was previously considered highly likely that Rashford’s Blaugrana switch would be made permanent in the summer:
‘Barca’s interest in retaining Rashford has cooled.’
As of this moment, Deco and co. do not intend to trigger the €30 million purchase option in the England international’s loan contract.
Conor Laird – GSFN