Barcelona open talks with Man Utd over Marcus Rashford's future with La Liga champions unwilling to pay £26m buy option in loan deal

Rashford is in the midst of an enjoyable first season with Barcelona after joining on loan in the summer. The England international has seven goals and eight assists from 27 appearances in all competitions and picked up his first silverware as a Barca player on Sunday after helping the Catalan giants beat Real Madrid 3-2 in the final of the Supercopa de Espana. Rashford will be aiming for more trophies before his loan deal comes to an end, with Barca currently top of the table in Spain, into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey and hoping to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Barcelona are hoping to keep hold of Rashford and have opened talks with Manchester United to try and reach an agreement that would see the forward sat the club, per talkSPORT. The Catalans are unwilling to pay his buy option but are hoping to be able to negotiate a lower price or another loan. Manchester United would rather sell Rashford this summer, but it remains to be seen if an agreement can be struck between the two teams. Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has already made it clear how highly he rates Rashford, telling reporters in December that he's been impressed by the way he's handled being a substitute: "I try to speak to every player when they are not selected, and the last time I checked with him he replied me ‘boss, you don’t have to tell me about your decisions. The most important thing is the team. We have to win the three points. The rest is not that important’. I am so happy to have him. When he is on the bench, he shows that we have a good and deep squad. What I can say is that he is an absolutely professional player. In the beginning, he had to adapt a little bit, but now he is at his best level."

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Rashford has also spoken about his happiness at Barcelona and his determination to try and continue his career in Catalunya. He told Diario Sport: "What I want is to stay at Barca. It's the ultimate goal, but it's not the reason I'm training hard and giving my all. The purpose is to win. Barca is a huge, fantastic club, built to win titles. I'm settling in really well at the club and in the city. From the moment I arrived, I felt very welcomed. For me, the reason I'm here is to help the team win trophies; last season was fantastic, but life moves very fast, things change, and the goal is to repeat those successes. I'm totally focused on that. Everything has been fantastic with the staff and my teammates; I have no complaints."

Rashford has enjoyed a fine first half of the season at Barca and will hope he can convince the club to keep him permanently between now and the end of the campaign. Yet the club's financial issues remain a problem when it comes to transfers, and the club may well be in the market for a new No. 9 in the summer as well. Veteran striker Robert Lewandowski is out of contract and could leave on a free transfer. The return to form and fitness of Raphinha also means Rashford faces less game time in the second half of the campaign, although he will be hoping to start next time out in the Copa del Rey. Barca manager Flick will be expected to rotate his starting XI when Barcelona continue the defence of their trophy with a last 16 tie against Racing on Thursday.