Man Utd may have to scrap strict Arsenal transfer rule after latest Rashford blow

Marcus Rashford is currently away on holiday, where he is supposed to be relaxing and recuperating after a long season ended in disappointment with England at the World Cup. But he may be finding it hard to enjoy himself given his current situation.

Rashford had a fantastic 2025/26 season. It hardly could have gone better, with 14 goals and 14 assists coming in 49 games during a dream loan spell with Barcelona. He ended the campaign by being named in Thomas Tuchel's squad for the World Cup.

Months later and the Three Lions had to settle for third place and his preferred destination in club football failed to materialise. Rather than trigger a £26million option to sign him permanently, Barcelona opted to splash out £69m on Anthony Gordon before reinforcing their stance in a further blow to United by spending £18.7m on Karim Adeyemi.

Any chance of Rashford joining Barca is surely gone and, at present, the most likely outcome is that he will return to United - the club he thought he'd said goodbye to for good. Rashford still has two years on his contract with his boyhood club, who hold the key to resolving his frustrating situation.

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United want to cash in their chips and believed his impressive season with Barca would make doing so straightforward. But the Catalan side's attempt to negotiate another loan deal, rather than paying the agreed £26m clause, angered United executives and ultimately burned that bridge.

The other major issue is Rashford's wages. He is being paid £325,000 per week by United, having signed a bumper five-year deal in July 2023. Those terms have effectively hamstrung Rashford, making him unattainable for other clubs.

The 28-year-old was willing to take a significant pay cut to join Barcelona, but things didn't work out. Now, if he is to escape United this summer, he needs the club to play ball.

The only teams who realistically have the financial power to sign Rashford are in the Premier League. The i reports that Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal have been keeping an eye on him, yet United are currently unwilling to do business with a rival in the same league.

While his success with Barcelona was viewed positively last season, the thought of their academy graduate tearing it up in the Premier League is proving to be a powerful deterrent towards his sale.

United have strengthened their midfield this summer through the signings of Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos, with the sale of Rasmus Hojlund and the departures of Casemiro and Jadon Sancho helping free up funds. But Rashford remains the biggest piece of the jigsaw yet to be found a home.

Michael Carrick has a good relationship with Rashford, who is understood to harbour no ill feelings towards the club now Ruben Amorim is long gone. Currently, he is set to join up with the United squad for the Irish training camp in early August.

If that is to change, then Rashford will need a huge change of heart from United's top brass.