Marcus Rashford: Which club could the Man Utd forward sign for in January – or should he stay at Old Trafford?

Marcus Rashford’s future is up in the air after the Man Utd forward said he was ready for a new challenge – but which clubs would be in the market to sign him in January?

The forward, who likes to cut in from the left wing, is now 27 and, after being left out of the United squad for the derby day win at Manchester City on Sunday, looks set to leave the Old Trafford club after almost 20 years.

But the picture is complicated, with potential buying clubs having to weigh up Rashford’s signing against his likely financial demands and also whether he fits into a position they require strengthening. There are also Ruben Amorim’s comments to consider, with the United boss saying he believes the team is stronger with Rashford…

Is there a Premier League option for Rashford?

Sky Sports’ Senior Football Journalist Peter Smith:

“Arsenal perhaps is the club in England that you think: maybe that could be the connection.

“It’s not going to be Liverpool, it’s not going to be Man City given the rivalries with Man United.

“And Chelsea, they’ve got plenty of wingers at the moment. They also don’t pay the wages that Rashford will come with.

“Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea in the summer and they see that as a good financial deal for them, because Chelsea are still paying quite a big chunk of Sterling’s wages while he’s at Arsenal until the end of this season.

“So maybe they could do something similar with Rashford if it was just a loan deal to get him playing football and playing regularly in the Premier League.

“Arsenal need a bit of help on the left as well – Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli haven’t delivered enough his year.

“But does Rashford do enough out of possession to fit into Mikel Arteta’s system?”

Paris St-Germain has long been seen as a potential destination – but is the timing wrong?

Sky Sports’ Senior Football Journalist Peter Smith:

“PSG have just gone through this big project of trying to move out all of these Galacticos, all these superstars: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar…

“They didn’t want to be burdened with these super A-listers earning hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds a week. They wanted to bring through young, talented players like Bradley Barcola, who plays on the left side that Rashford wants to play in.

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“So even when you’re talking about PSG, which I think over the last few seasons has been mooted as a potential destination for Rashford – he scored a fantastic high-pressure penalty for Man United there in the Champions League so they’ve seen firsthand what he can do – but maybe that’s gone away a little bit.”

Sky Sports’ European Football Expert Dougie Critchley:

“I think in 2022, it felt a lot more likely. Barcola has been one of their best players so far this season. He’s scored 10 goals in 13 league games. Desire Doue is only 19 and he can play on the left-hand side or as a number 10. They don’t really need another left winger. And I think that’s the story for so many clubs around Europe.”

Which clubs in Europe would want him? There are lots of high-quality left-wing forwards out there…

Sky Sports’ European Football Expert Dougie Critchley:

“If you go to Spain, Real Madrid have got Vinicius Junior. They’re not moving him on anytime soon. And also, with Rashford’s performances, is he going to get a move to a club of the calibre of Real Madrid? Unlikely.

“But then you go around to Barcelona, they’ve got Dani Olmo, they’ve got Raphinha, who’s been one of the best players in Europe so far this season. At Atletico Madrid, Diego Simeone still sticks to a 4-4-2, but they’ve got Samuel Lino, a really promising left winger on their books. You go to Germany, Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane at Bayern Munich – they don’t need a left winger. Jamie Gittens is absolutely excelling at Borussia Dortmund. They don’t need a left winger.

“Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko at RB Leipzig are doing great work there. They don’t need him. Even at a club like AC Milan, they’ve got Rafael Leao.

“You get the picture. There’s not really that many destinations for him. And the club that probably felt like the most possible, maybe a year or two ago, was maybe Juventus but they’ve got this young kid coming through called Kenan Yildiz, who’s been given the number 10 shirt – the shirt that Pogba wore, that Dybala wore, Del Piero wore. And he’s playing really, really well on the left-hand side. So they don’t really particularly need him either.

“The clubs that you’d expect Rashford to go to a few years ago, when he was having 30-goal seasons, when he was performing so well for England… this drop-off in form couldn’t have come at a worse time for him when the rest of Europe don’t have that much cash available to them and left-wingers around Europe are really stocked as well.”

Is the answer to stay at Man Utd with the Amorim project?

Sky Sports’ Senior Football Journalist Peter Smith:

“What I thought was interesting was Amorim saying he’s looking for ways to get Marcus Rashford to his best level. I don’t think it’s the first time we’ve heard a Man United manager say that.

“We know he’s a big talent. That’s what Amorim called him: a big talent. But can he do it consistently? That’s always been the question with Rashford.

“Of course, you’ve got to say, during this period, Man United have made lots of changes of managers, lots of changes in terms of the personnel around Rashford. Man Utd haven’t been at the level they’d want to be for the majority of that time.

“It’s difficult for Rashford and where we place him really in terms of his Man Utd career, because there’s been moments where he’s looked fantastic. Other moments were really frustrating.

“Now we’ve heard from Ruben Amorim, a new manager coming into the club who can see his quality and thinks: ‘I can get the best out of this player’. But lots of managers have said that before and they’ve not been able to do it for a prolonged period of time.”

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