When the summer began, Barcelona knew they had to strengthen in attack.
At that point, Athletic Club winger Nico Williams was not being considered, after a failed prospective move for him last year. Barca assumed their chance had passed.
In sporting director Deco’s mind, Liverpool’s Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford of Manchester United were the two candidates. Deco preferred Diaz, but financially, that deal was difficult to pull off. Then Williams offered himself to the club, actively showing interest in playing for Barcelona, and plans changed. Deco reopened the club’s doors to the Spain international, who turned 23 this month.
However, when they were convinced that Williams’ signing was a matter of days away, on July 4, a video appeared on Athletic’s social media confirming three things: he was staying in Bilbao, he was renewing his contract there for another 10 years and, once again, he had stood up Barcelona.
With that, the club closed the door definitively on the transfer and went back to considering other options.
Diaz remained Deco’s first choice — the Colombia winger was the player he liked the most. But Spanish champions Barca cannot yet employ La Liga’s 1:1 rule — whereby they can spend a euro for every euro they raise — although club sources, speaking anonymously to protect their roles, claim they are very close to achieving it.
Financial constraints mean Barcelona have to work with what they can do rather than what they want to do. And there was one player who ticked all the boxes in those circumstances: Rashford.
Barca initially thought Williams would move to Camp Nou (Thomas Kienzle/AFP via Getty Images)
The 27-year-old England international has signed for the club on a season-long loan with the idea of playing on the left wing, although he can operate in any position up front.
His signing was necessary for several reasons.
One was that the coaching staff wanted more options in attack.
Last season, the starting front line of Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha proved very fruitful for the team. Barca were the highest-scoring team in La Liga, with 102 goals. Real Madrid were a distant second with 78. Lewandowski scored 27 and was just four short of equalling Spain’s top scorer, Kylian Mbappe of Madrid. Raphinha got 18 and Yamal nine.
That first-choice forward line was clear and unshakeable, but the problem came when injuries and late season fatigue set in.
Head coach Hansi Flick and his assistants felt they needed greater depth. They did not have enough confidence in Ansu Fati, who left on loan to Monaco a few weeks ago, or last summer’s signing Pau Victor, and when the final stretch of 2024-25 arrived and Lewandowski was out for 17 days with a hamstring injury, Raphinha, Yamal and Ferran Torres were the only players relied on.
Flick also preferred to use Raphinha in a central role and, although the Brazilian began as a left-winger, he ended up playing more in the middle than out wide. To take advantage of this profile, and bearing in mind that Torres is seen as a centre-forward to compete with Lewandowski, who turns 37 next month, allowing the Pole to be rested for some matches, Flick wanted to bring in a winger with more pace on the left.
In fact, when it looked like Williams was going to sign, the way voices at Barca envisaged him fitting into their system was to drop Raphinha back to play almost as an attacking midfielder. With Rashford arriving instead, Flick has the option of doing that or allowing him to miss the occasional game.
They wanted someone to fill that need, and after interest in and moves for Diaz and Williams came to nothing, Rashford emerged as the most feasible option.
Deco tried to buy Diaz, but it was not a viable option, no matter how much they wanted him. Barcelona just could not afford him — he had a high salary and other financial aspects affecting registrations complicated the operation. The club are trying to save wherever they can to get back to a normal situation in terms of signing players this summer.
Diaz and Williams would have been permanent signings and not loans, with the amortisation of their transfer fees (the transfer fee divided by the years of a player’s contract) included in La Liga’s salary cap.
A deal for Liverpool’s Diaz never materialised (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
This is not the case with Rashford, who arrives without the need for a fee — although his registration is not guaranteed. The club are still operating above their league-imposed salary limit, meaning they cannot register any of their new signings (Rashford, goalkeepers Joan Garcia and Wojciech Szczesny and the young winger Roony Bardghji) as things stand. They must make room in their wage budget by moving out high-earning players or finding significant new revenue streams.
Even so, Rashford was financially viable, much cheaper than Barca’s other targets, could play as a winger, and Flick liked him.
Another key point was the player’s desire for the move. He was desperate to play for Barcelona and, after learning of Williams’ decision, made this known to the club.
He was coming from a difficult personal situation at United, where he had been left without a shirt number for the coming season in a clear invitation to leave, and was enthused by the idea of becoming a Barca player. Rashford wanted to come despite knowing he may have to wait until the last minute of the summer window to actually be registered, as happened to Victor and Dani Olmo when they were signed this time a year ago.
This, combined with their experiences with Williams and the contract clauses he requested to cover him in the event that he could not be registered after signing, added points in the Englishman’s favour.
Rashford is not the player Barcelona would have gone for under normal circumstances, but he is one who more or less fits the bill. He was not their first choice, but he suits the club’s current financial situation.
(Top photo: Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)