Rashford meets Barcelona, Manchester United may be jointly calculated! If you want to sell for 40 million, it is impossible to rent it out

With Manchester United's 2-0 win over Aston Villa in the final round of the Premier League, the last possibility of Unai Emery's side buying Marcus Rashford was shattered. The 27-year-old England winger will return to Carrington in July unless he can find a home quickly. Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Rashford's agent brother Dwayne Maynard, as well as special super-agent Pini Zahavi, have met with Barcelona to discuss the potential possibility of a summer transfer.

Western media photographed Rashford's agent appearing in Barcelona, while Fabrizio Romano confirmed that Rashford's team met with Barça's sporting director Deco at the hotel on Wednesday. Marcus Rashford is said to be one of Barca's four candidates for a signing, but not the first choice. Fabrizio Romano said: "All clubs can sign Rashford for £40 million. He had been on Barca's shortlist since January, but no agreement was reached at the time and ultimately failed to make the trip. His team met again today with Barca, with Marcus Rashford one of the four options on their list.

British media have confirmed that Manchester United want to keep the £40 million buyout price in Villa's loan deal and sell Rashford. Sadly, this price, combined with a £325,000-a-week salary, makes it almost impossible for Rashford to find a buyer. With four goals and six assists in 17 games for Villa, La is not too bad to deserve the £40million price tag.

Coupled with Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim's falling out with Rashford, Amorim made it clear that he did not want the England star to return to Old Trafford, and the club had to send Rashford away, which made the negotiations even more unfavourable to the Red Devils.

Barcelona are looking for a loan-to-own and could join Marcus Rashford to force Manchester United. Everyone knows that in the current circumstances, Sir Jim Ratcliffe may accept a compromise and accept the option of re-lending Rashford, but ask the other side to commit to a buyout.

Another possible way to complete the deal is for Barcelona to swap a player for Manchester United, with the Spanish newspaper El País claiming that Amorim has his eye on the other two men. One of them was central defender Ronald Araujo, who was overtaken at the Camp Nou by Inigo Martinez, Paulo Kubalsi and even Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen.

It was previously rumoured that Barcelona valued the 26-year-old Uruguayan player at €50 million, equivalent to £42 million, and club president Joan Laporta and director Deco could consider sacrificing Araujo in exchange for Rashford, so that Rashford could be obtained without paying at all.

Manchester United are also happy to trade Marcus Rashford for Fermín Lopes, with the Spanish midfielder also valued at around €50 million. But Barcelona boss Hans Flick is said to be reluctant to lose the 22-year-old, who finished the season in good form and contributed three goals and one assist in his last four La Liga games.

However, talkSPORT believes the more likely outcome is that United have to sign Rashford on loan again. The player will insist on fulfilling his dream of a move to Barcelona and may join forces with the La Liga giants to calculate his old club. Barcelona are aware of Marcus Rashford's desire to join, and understand that United are desperate to reduce their wage burden, so they will stick to a rent-to-buy model, which can make Rashford refuse to join other teams, thus forcing Rashford to back down.

Marcus Rashford's contract with Manchester United has been extended until June 2028, and if he is not sent away, the club will have to pay £16 million a season, or £12 million even if he does not miss the Champions League salary cut.