Marcus Rashford told he can steal Lamine Yamal's crown as Barcelona's best player as Man Utd loanee backed to 'make his own legacy'

Rashford is a long way from occupying that talent pool at present, but has enjoyed a productive start to his spell with Barcelona. He showed signs of rekindling a lost spark during a loan stint at Aston Villa last season.

With no slate being wiped clean at Old Trafford in the summer of 2025, the 28-year-old was forced to find another new challenge. He stepped out of his comfort zone when doing that, with the decision taken to join Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Pedri in Spanish football.

Rashford has registered six goals and eight assists through 16 appearances for Barca, with the expectation being that a purchase option will be triggered in his loan agreement. Once a permanent transfer is completed, Yorke believes that Rashford will go from strength to strength.

The 1999 Treble winner has told Snabbare of the United academy graduate potentially rising above teenage wonderkid Yamal at Camp Nou: “I'm surprised they haven't already paid that £35 million ($46m), as he’s a really good player.

“I think it’s great for Rashford. I’ve defended him. There’s a whole saga around him and after some people questioned his role at United, credit to him for doing well at Barcelona. I think he became very unhappy at United, it’s as simple as that. It doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re in an unhappy place, how can you perform? He’s gone over to Barcelona, he’s enjoying his football again, he’s in a happy place, and we see the impact on his performances.

“He’s not become a fantastic player at Barcelona. He is a fantastic player. He has always been a fantastic player. But if you’re unhappy, you’re not going to perform. I don’t think he has covered himself in glory either, but man for man there was no player more talented than Rashford in the United ranks. Now we’ve got a happy Rashford playing the way he can, he’s showing at Barcelona that the rest is history, and now he has some big boots to fill.

“Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, these are the types of guys that came before him like Romario and those types of players. I don’t think Rashford is quite in that bracket yet but he can create his own legacy in the Barcelona shirt.

“Apart from Lamine Yamal, he’s not going to have much competition in this team. He's now got a chance to believe: 'I can be the number one player here', even ahead of Yamal. Yamal is still in that development stage. Rashford is at his peak right now as a player and he is that good. He can be that good but he must want to have it."

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United could be wondering whether selling Rashford is the best option, having seen him thrive outside of Manchester. The likes of Antony and Alejandro Garnacho have done likewise, while Scott McTominay is now a Serie A title winner at Napoli.

There has been talk of the Red Devils trying to bring the Scotland international back, with Yorke saying on that topic: “You know they would have to pay some serious money to go and get him back. It would be difficult to admit they made a mistake, but having said that, he would relish the fact he’s now being backed by the club if they did go back in for him.

“He wouldn’t answer the problem of not having a number six though. They’d probably get him playing even further up the park which would only make things more confusing. That’s why he wouldn’t come back. In hindsight, like with all these things, he could have been in a top position at United one day but it’s never that easy.”

Ruben Amorim will be looking for the United board to spend again in January, with the Red Devils still searching for consistency. They have positioned themselves back in the Premier League top-four race this season, but questions continue to be asked of whether defensive and attacking reinforcements are required in order for former glories to be fully recaptured.