Hansi Flick still enforces a culture of strict punctuality at Barcelona. Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United loanee, learned this lesson the hard way last September. The England forward arrived for a 9:30 am match-day briefing at 9:32 am. He blamed a broken security card for the delay. Flick didn’t budge and benched the star for the game against Getafe. Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, and Raphinha started instead. They secured a 3-0 victory at the Nou Camp while Rashford watched from the sidelines.
Marcus Rashford implements a major timing shift following Barcelona discipline
This change followed a rough patch for the attacker. He had struggled to find his rhythm under Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford. After a short time at Aston Villa, he moved to Catalonia on a season-long loan to fix his career. The forward now arrives thirty minutes early for every session to avoid more trouble. (via Daily Star)
Barcelona hold a £26 million option to buy him, but his future remains unclear. His £325,000-a-week wages don’t fit the new bonus-heavy pay structure at United. This makes a move back to Manchester unlikely when his loan ends this summer.
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The 28-year-old England international is at a point where discipline meets money. He is adapting well to Flick’s tough rules. This shows he is maturing, but the £26 million price tag is the easy part. The real problem is his huge salary, and it reminds the current INEOS-led board of how United used to overspend.
Rashford still has a scary pace and a clinical finish when he cuts inside from the left. However, he still tends to disappear from games sometimes. Barcelona have a strong frontline right now. Spending a lot of money on a player who doesn’t always help the defence is a risk for their team’s balance.
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If the Spanish side skip the permanent deal, Rashford enters a tough market. Very few clubs can pay his English salary. He must play perfectly in the final weeks of the season. The forward needs to prove he is worth the money before the next World Cup cycle. United want a permanent departure to lower their wage bill. Meanwhile, Rashford needs a permanent home to become a world-class threat again. The next two months will decide whether he stays in Spain or looks for a fresh start elsewhere.
