Man Utd's Marcus Rashford nightmare! Red Devils must consider lowering asking price or accept long cycle of loan deals for highly-paid outcast

Rashford's ideal destination is well-known - and who wouldn't want to play for Barcelona? His brother and agent, Dwaine Maynard, flew out to to meet Barca's sporting director Deco in May, while at a similar time the former Portugal midfielder declared "we like Rashford" before uttering the obligatory sentence about not being able to talk about players at other clubs.

Rashford has also been doing his part, inviting Barcelona-based Youtubers xBuyers to Marbella for an interview in which he declared his love for Lamine Yamal and his desire to play with him. Other nods to Barca could be heard in the chat as he cited Thierry Henry as the player he was most similar to while Rashford claimed that he was comfortable playing as a No.9, the position he would most likely occupy if he were to pull off a move to Catalunya.

But actions speak louder than words, and instead of trying to sign Rashford, Barca have been pursuing Athletic Club's Nico Williams. They are reportedly on the verge of agreeing a transfer for the Spain winger, subject to the move being greenlit by La Liga's financial regulators. Paying Williams' release clause will cost financially-troubled Barca £50 million ($68m) plus tax on top of a huge salary, which in turn would surely reduce the likelihood of them ever affording United's reported valuation of £40m for Rashford in addition to his massive wages (£315,000 per week).

Even leaving aside the money concerns, Williams plays in Rashford's ideal position as a left forward, and his arrival will leave Barca with six top-class attackers, thus generating more competition for places in a squad that already contains Ballon d'Or hopefuls Raphinha and Yamal, plus Dani Olmo, Robert Lewandowski - their top scorer last season - and Ferran Torres.

In reality, Barca feels like a naively optimistic destination for Rashford, and the only scenario in which he could go there would be on loan, with United likely having to cover a chunk of his wages as they did during his stint at Villa. A loan is a far from ideal outcome for the Red Devils, who desperately need cash to finance more signings. It also only kicks the problem down the road and likely leaves them having to go through the same process over the next two summers until Rashford's lucrative contract expires in 2028.

The other club to be linked with Rashford over the summer is Newcastle. However, the Magpies are also reportedly only interested in a loan. Given the attacking quality they already possess in Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy, it is not surprising they are unwilling to sign him Rashford a permanent basis.

The only way for United to get the permanent move they crave, then, is to lower their valuation well below £40m. That is a lot of money to demand for a player who Amorim stopped selecting for matchday squads last December before declaring that bringing Rashford back into the squad would send out such a a bad message that he would rather play his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital instead.

But even if we forget Rashford's personality clash with Amorim, it is still a lot of money for a player who scored just six Premier League goals last season across his spells for United and Villa, and who only made four league starts for Unai Emery's side. The fee has already put Villa off signing him permanently, in addition to Barca and Newcastle, and many other clubs are likely to conclude that there are better value attacking options out there.

Manchester City have just proved that by signing 21-year-old Rayan Cherki for £34m, while Chelsea landed Liam Delap, who scored double the amount of goals as Rashford last term while playing for relegated Ipswich, for £30m. Only nine players were signed by Premier League clubs last summer for £40m or more, as Arsenal, Tottenham, Villa, Chelsea and United were alone in fronting up such fees.

Nor is there much tangible interest in Rashford outside of England. Bayern Munich are the only Bundesliga club capable of paying such a fee while only the top three Spanish clubs could realistically afford Rashford. Juventus, meanwhile, are the only Serie A club to have paid above £40m for players (Teun Koopmeiners and Douglas Luiz) in the last year.

Paris Saint-Germain are the only French side with the financial capabilities to sign him, and they were recently interested in Rashford, but they have changed their transfer strategy in the last couple of years away from superstar names and towards young, emerging French players. And after finally conquering the Champions League and in devastating fashion, they are unlikely to change course now.

United reducing their asking price only solves one of the stumbling blocks towards striking a deal, too. Rashford's salary puts him among the top-10 earners in the Premier League, but he has long ceased to be one of the top-10 forwards. European sides, other than the real elite clubs, cannot afford those wages either. Borussia Dortmund, for example, rejected the chance to sign Rashford on loan last January because they could not take on his salary, even with United willing to cover a quarter of it.

It has been reported that Rashford would take a pay cut to join Barca, but realistically he will have to lower his demands to join any club in Europe. He should also reassess some of the other demands he has made that have leaked their way into the media, such as being unwilling to move to London or only wanting to join a club in the Champions League.

European football expert Gabriele Marcotti summed up Rashford's predicament when he said: "It's very simple. You are not on wages suitable for any club in the world right now. Based on your performance level, that's not where you are. On top of that, you got injured at the end of the season. If you're Newcastle you might say 'ok, we like Rashford'. But is he better than what they have in that role? This whole sniffy attitude that he needs a Champions League club... Get a grip about where you are right now!"

It seems that Rashford has two options: to prioritise sporting ambitions or earning the massive salary he currently enjoys. If he lowers his wage demands, then more clubs who can offer him Champions League football and a crack at a top-five European league title will come to the table. Otherwise, he needs to reach out to clubs in MLS or the Saudi Pro League.

The worst thing from a United point of view is that it he is far from the only player who is proving hard to shift this summer. Amorim has also told Alejandro Garnacho to leave, and the Argentina winger has shown he is not afraid to cause bad publicity, which is likely to lower his price if his social media posts do not put prospective clubs off him altogether.

Jadon Sancho has no beef with Amorim, but he effectively severed all ties with United after refusing to apologise to Erik ten Hag for lashing out against him on social media in 2023. His disappointing loan spell at Chelsea is going to put off other Premier League clubs, although Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce could be about to ride to United's rescue after making an offer for the England winger, whose contract with United expires next year.

Then there is Antony. The Brazilian rebooted his career on loan at Real Betis, but his terrible time at United and his struggles against Chelsea in the Conference League final have sounded out a warning to clubs in the Premier League. He has shown he can perform well elsewhere in Europe, but Betis and clubs of a similar ilk will struggle to afford Antony'ss current wages or even United's heavily reduced asking price, which has dropped from the £85m they paid Ajax for him in 2022 to £25m.

United had hoped to earn up to £150m from the sales of their four unwanted wingers to finance the badly-needed squad overhaul they need, but now find themselves at the mercy of the players being willing to take a pay cut or lowering their ambitions by moving away from the top leagues.

The Red Devils thought they had one large obstacle to overcome this summer in attracting top players to a club that will not be playing any European football next season. Now they need to get over an unexpected hurdle - getting unwanted players to leave.