Manchester United have put Marcus Rashford up for sale and the England forward has said he doesn’t want to stay anyway. Where the hell could he end up?
We make a case for each of the biggest eight clubs in the Premier League.
Arsenal
Marcus Rashford might not be the ideal candidate for Arsenal but there is no doubt that a new (preferably left-sided) forward should be signed in the winter transfer window.
The Gunners have been underwhelming in attack in too many matches this season, with not enough players able to create something out of nothing and Gabriel Martinelli’s unreliability allowing teams to gang up on Bukayo Saka – and Martin Odegaard to an extent – on the other side.
Rashford’s best position is on the left, from where he can cut inside and pelt shots at the goalkeeper, and Arsenal’s biggest weakness is in that area of the pitch. It is no coincidence that Martinelli’s form has declined following Granit Xhaka’s exit; the combinations between the two, with Oleksandr Zinchenko getting involved too, enabled the Brazilian to have the best season of his career in 2022/23.
There are options for Arsenal – including Rafael Leao, Nico Williams and Rodrygo – but Rashford could be the one. There is clearly a player in there and with the right management, we could see him again. Arteta has a wonderful record with wide players, helping Saka develop into a world-class talent and working closely with Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and others at Manchester City.
But Sterling is an inconvenient truth in the Rashford to Arsenal propaganda. He can’t get a kick in the Premier League and with Rashford reportedly available on loan, this represents a similar risk. It’s clearly not working with Sterling, so you can’t imagine the Gunners potentially repeating the same mistake with the Manchester United man. Still, Rashford is younger and surely a little bit tempting.
Arsenal need an X-factor, a difference-maker, in the final third and a motivated Rashford can bring that to the table, but bringing that potential and effort out of him might just be impossible.
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Aston Villa
It’s all gone a little bit stale at Aston Villa, hasn’t it? Their Premier League form has dipped rather dramatically, dropping home points to Bournemouth and Crystal Palace (who knocked Unai Emery’s side out of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 victory at Villa Park too) while they were well beaten by Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea, all in the same run. After going six domestic matches without a win, Villa beat Brentford and Southampton at home but threw it away at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Unai, my friend, can we tempt you to sign a player who is known to oversleep for team meetings, phone in sick after venturing to a nightclub and go out partying after demoralising defeats? He works really hard on the pitch, we promise!
In Villa’s previous two games, Emery’s wide players were John McGinn and Matty Cash and no natural winger came off the bench with Jaden Philogene an unused substitute and Leon Bailey injured. McGinn is terrific but better in the middle and Cash is not the best right-back, let alone right-winger.
Rashford might be the forward Aston Villa need to rejuvenate their attack, and he provides some lovely depth exactly where Emery needs it.
A couple of years ago, the idea of joining Villa would have been laughed off for Rashford but now it can be regarded a step up from Man United. They are in the Champions League and on course to finish in the top eight, thus automatically progressing to the last 16. Now that’s appealing, isn’t it Marcus?
Chelsea
It’s time to reunite Rashford with his pal Jadon Sancho. This situation is similar to the one in which Sancho found himself under Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman outed the winger for his poor performances in training and clearly was not fond of his overall conduct. They publicly fell out and Sancho returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan for the second half of 2023/24. Rashford can leave on loan with a permanent sale mid-season pretty unrealistic given his huge wages, which reportedly exceed £350,000 a week.
Chelsea are known to make some…questionable decisions in the transfer market and signing Rashford would certainly be bold and against their policy of buying young, but this is an unpredictable club and they might need to replace Mykhaylo Mudryk – even if they already have 100 wingers.
Rashford and Sancho are players who need to be in the right environment to thrive and while Chelsea have been a shambles in recent years, the tide is turning and things are very positive under Enzo Maresca’s management. Maresca has been key in getting Sancho going again and could be the catalyst Rashford needs to enjoy his football and get back in the England squad.
The overriding point is that we can’t put this transfer past the Blues. Because it would be silly, innit?
Liverpool
Now this would be quite something. “Best away, atmosphere wise, as a fan? Anfield,” Rashford said in August. Hmm. ‘Shock Rashford admission proves he is open to Liverpool transfer’ is a future Reach title destined for a pasting in Mediawatch, isn’t it?
Arne Slot’s favourite players are wide forwards too. Liverpool were linked with Yankuba Minteh and Anthony Gordon in the summer before signing Federico Chiesa. Slot is also loving utilising all of his wingers and is bringing the best out of Mohamed Salah, which did not seem possible considering his previous best was pretty f**king good.
Luis Diaz has also been in good scoring form, Diogo Jota is doing Diogo Jota things and Cody Gakpo is finally thriving in the Premier League. It is not a coincidence and shows that Slot is capable of getting Rashford flying again.
Honestly, there is no chance this happens but you never bloody know, do ya?
Manchester City
Although he came through the club’s ranks and is a boyhood fan, Rashford might want to stick the middle finger up on his way out and going to United’s Manchester rivals to win every pot and pan imaginable would be him doing exactly that. He has said he doesn’t want to leave on bad terms but things could turn even more sour before the end of January.
Rumours of Man City wanting Paul Pogba is our case, your honour. Rashford and Pogba had an understanding at United, epitomised by Jose Mourinho’s expert analysis at half-time of a lockdown match between Spurs and the Red Devils, predicting the Frenchman finding his team-mate with a pass over the top from the right-back position. Run it back, lads; back to those amazing days together where you won soooo many football games and had a totally brill time.
A more consequential point is that Man City have one forward listed on the first-team squad page on their website. That is not enough. And that forward is very one-dimensional, which has not been a problem ever…until now. Erling Haaland scores a lot of goals but doesn’t do much else, which means he is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons when he draws a blank. He is obviously not the ‘League Two footballer’ Roy Keane has claimed but he is not creating anything for himself with City playing like absolute dross.
Pep Guardiola sold someone who played 54 times across all competitions last season in Julian Alvarez and did not replace him, which seemed weird at the time and looks downright idiotic now. There is no alternative anymore and Rashford would provide that. His love for Man United is strong but playing a team capable of winning anything and everything is appealing.
TL;DR: City didn’t replace Julian Alvarez in the summer and have no cover for Erling Haaland. Also: Paul Pogba knows him well and might sign for City.
Manchester United
Come on guys, think of all the good times and believe Ruben Amorim can get the boy flying again. We know he has said he is ready for a new challenge but Rashford scored on his Man United and European debut against FC Midtjylland, bagging a brace as an 18-year-old whippersnapper with no fear days before another double from the striker on his Premier League debut against Arsenal.
He also scored on his Champions League and League Cup debuts and second FA Cup appearance, helping the Red Devils win a replay at West Ham in a season they went on to win the competition. Rashford was supposed to be a legend and he still can be.
If he stays, he can become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer and hopefully Sunday’s Manchester derby omission is the kick up the backside required. He needs to find that motivation within him to get over this hump and really kick on under Amorim. It will be difficult because not only have the fans turned on him, but the club appear to have too with their transfer stance.
With 138 goals for the club, the 27-year-old is 115 behind Wayne Rooney, which is quite a mountain to climb but it will take that sort of goalscoring form to save his United career.
While shifting his ridiculous salary would benefit the club, Rashford can justify the money he makes and Amorim would obviously love to be the one who resurrects his career rather than give up on him straight away like everyone else…
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Newcastle United
We are not sure if Rashford would go for this but Newcastle are maybe the only team for whom he would be an immediate starter. He is comfortably better than Jacob Murphy and Miguel Almiron and debatably better than Harvey Barnes. Furthermore, Callum Wilson is a constant sick note and relying on Alexander Isak to produce every match is not sustainable.
The good thing about Rashford is that he can play anywhere across the front and a move to Newcastle would provide them some much-needed depth through the middle and give them a stellar option on the right or left, if Eddie Howe prefers him there with Anthony Gordon on the other wing.
Newcastle arguably have the most compelling case for signing Rashford and that case is very simple: he makes them a better team.
Tottenham
This is the most predictable transfer rumour of 2025 already. Having been linked with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in the past, it would be a kick in the teeth to become a reported Tottenham target. But they are his level right now.
Ange Postecoglou isn’t having Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson’s purple patch seems to be over, while Richarlison is always injured and Heung-min Son is past his best, even if his 2024/25 statistics are still pretty good. Rashford would offer a good sort of different to the Spurs attack and like with Newcastle, would surely start for them.
Can he co-exist with Son or would he be the long-term replacement? Rashford’s numbers in Cristiano Ronaldo’s only full season back were awful and while Son does not possess the same ego and is nowhere near as selfish on the pitch, he is becoming a bit like 2021/22 Ronaldo, who was largely uninvolved but still scored a lot of goals. That hints towards the answer to that question being no.
Rashford wants a new challenge, does he? Doesn’t come more challenging than winning a trophy at Spurs, mate.
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