Transfer roundtable: Manchester United's Marcus Rashford eyes move abroad, but which European clubs actually need him?

This summer it seems as if Marcus Rashford will leave Manchester United, either on loan or permanently, after Aston Villa decided not to sign him permanently at the end of last season. Rashford reportedly prefers a move to a European team and wants a chance to win titles. But what teams actually would want to sign Rashford that fit in with his criteria? We asked our European offices to find out.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford reportedly prefers a move to Europe should he leave the Old Trafford club this summer.

Rashford spent the second half of last season on loan with Aston Villa, but Unai Emery’s club did not buy the England forward permanently.

Now, The Athletic’s David Ornstein has reported that Rashford would prefer to leave England if he departs United this summer, and that he wants to compete for titles.

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That desire, combined with Rashford’s high salary, does narrow the number of clubs that could sign Rashford this summer.

So, which clubs are interested? Which clubs could sign Rashford? And who actually needs Rashford? We got in touch with our friends across Europe to find out exactly where he could go.

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Germany - Bayern a logical choice, but is he first-choice?

There are reports that Rashford is actually on the longlist of Bayern Munich, the current Bundesliga defending champions, as they are quite desperately searching for a winger to replace Leroy Sane. Former Manchester City winger Sane moved to Galatasaray earlier in the window.

Still, the main targets are Bradley Barcola and Nico Williams, but neither of them seem to be willing to move to Munich yet. Indeed, Williams seems to have his heart set on a move to Barcelona.

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If Rashford wants to win titles, Bayern is quite honestly the only choice for him – if they really do want him.

Borussia Dortmund could fit the profile as well, because Jamie Gittens is set to move to Chelsea. But the team has been falling short of expectations for years and I do not think that Rashford is the right fit, given he would probably blow up the salary structure.

Celine Jaentsch, Eurosport Germany

Spain – Barca or bust

Here in Spain, Rashford has been linked to Barcelona in the past few years, as an option to be a back-up to star striker Robert Lewandowski, as well as providing cover on the left.

However, Ferran Torres has performed this role admirably recently. In terms of La Liga here in Spain, we can see Barcelona as a destination for him. As Celine mentioned, though, they are chasing Williams from Athletic Club.

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He is going to be too expensive for bigger teams such as Valencia or Sevilla (who have not performed well in recent seasons), the same can be said for one of the UEFA Champions League teams, Villarreal, who have a smaller wage structure.

In terms of the other Champions League clubs, he obviously cannot play for Athletic due to the Basque policy and as for Atletico Madrid, I do not think Rashford is the kind of attacker that manager Diego Simeone wants.

Adrian Garcia, Eurosport Spain

Italy - Sancho a blocker, but opportunity knocks

Honestly, I don't think there are any of the top clubs in Serie A at the moment that can afford to target Rashford in the current transfer window, due to technical but especially financial issues.

There had been contacts with [AC] Milan last January, with the agent even meeting with their management to discuss a loan transfer, but no agreement was reached. There had also been talk of Juventus, but at the moment, they seem more interested in targeting another Manchester United winger, Jadon Sancho. Napoli also seem to be interested in Sancho rather than Rashford.

At the moment, in Italy, the only team that could afford to set up an operation for such an expensive player is Como, which, moreover, was already interested in the player last winter: in this case, however, it would have to be understood whether Rashford himself would accept a young and challenging team, but one that will not play in the European competitions in the next season.

Iacopo Erba, Eurosport Italy

France – No room at the inn

For us in France, the answer is quite simple. No club has the financial means to attract him. So, they have no reason to be interested in him.

Well, of course, one club has the means; the only club with sufficient financial power is PSG. It is true that sporting director Luis Campos has always appreciated him, but not manager Luis Enrique.

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PSG’s strategy is no longer to attract this type of player. And quite honestly, I do not see the club going after a player like Rashford, who would probably become the fifth option in the hierarchy of Parisian attacking players.

Julien Pereira, Eurosport France

Netherlands - Only if wages are lowered

In The Netherlands we have PSV, Ajax and possibly Feyenoord playing in the Champions League this year, but I cannot imagine these three clubs are an option for Rashford. Or the other way around. Obviously Rashford does have his wage demands and this is way too high for the NL clubs.

PSV had quite a lot of success with Ivan Perisic and there are some mutterings Ajax hopes to bring back Dusan Tadic, for which they must break their wage bill again. For Tadic there is a possibility to do so, for Rashford? Nah, not gonna happen.

If you look at the three clubs apart from any strings attached to Rashford… I would argue Ajax could be the best fit. Ajax lacked an attacker who could attack defences on full speed last year, something which Rashford knows how to do, but that’s only one small part of a puzzle consisting out of many pieces which don’t seem to fit now.

Kevin van Nunen, Eurosport Netherlands

Where do you think Rashford should move? Vote in our poll below to let us know your thoughts!

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