Why Marcus Rashford may be prevented from playing for Barcelona after signing from Man Utd

Rashford is set to join Barcelona on loan, with an option to buy, after the Catalan giants missed out on top target Nico Williams. The Manchester United outcast has agreed a hefty wage cut to make the move to Camp Nou as he bids to revive his career after been deemed surplus to requirements by Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim.

Barcelona's financial problems have been well-documented and led to the collapse of a deal for Williams earlier this summer. The Athletic Club star wanted guarantees that Barca could afford to register him, a request that did not please the Catalans, after seeing the club hit problems with Dani Olmo's registration last season. La Liga president Javier Tebas has said that Barcelona would not be able to afford to register Williams, and Rashford has been warned he may face similar problems at the Camp Nou.

talkSPORT's Andy Brassell told the Trans Europe Express: "He's taking a pay cut to make this happen, but there's still no guarantee, certainly if you believe Javier Tebas, the president of LaLiga, that Barcelona will be able to register him for the moment. That is something that we have to keep an eye on, as with every Barcelona signing. That was what made Nico Williams back out of the deal.

"Rashford doesn't have an enormous amount of options, partly because of his salary, partly because of a disappointing last couple of years, even if he did show bits of his old self at Aston Villa. “Both sides needed this to happen quite badly, which I think is great news for Marcus Rashford, it's great news for England, and if it all works, it's good news for Barcelona as well.”

Registration problems have been an issue for Barcelona for some time. Olmo missed the first two La Liga games of the season in 2024-25 as he was not registered, while Jules Kounde also faced a similar situation when he arrived from Sevilla and wasn't registered in time for the team's season opener.

Rashford is expected to complete his move to Barcelona shortly and join the squad on a pre-season tour of Asia. Yet Barcelona have work to do behind-the-scenes to ensure Rashford, and new signings Joan Garcia and Roony Bardghji, are registered and eligible to play in time for their season opener against Real Mallorca on August 16.