Marcus Rashford makes ‘double sacrifice’ to sign contract

Robin Bairner

2 Mar 2026 14:19 GMT
4 min read

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring against Newcastle in the Champions League, 2025/26 — © IMAGO

Marcus Rashford has agreed personal terms with Barcelona, taking a massive wage cut to join the Catalan side from Manchester United on a permanent basis.

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Rashford was exiled by Man Utd during Ruben Amorim’s reign at Old Trafford and left on loan last summer to join the Catalans.

While the performances of the 28-year-old have impressed those at Camp Nou, there were fears that a deal would be impossible, unless the attacker agreed to a wage cut that TeamTalk says he has agreed to.

Current ETV

Marcus Rashford

F, M (L)

Barcelona

Marcus Rashford

F, M (L)

Barcelona

ETV Range

€39.2M - €65.3M

Rashford’s ‘double sacrifice’

Despite a buyout clause of around €30 million having been agreed in Rashford’s initial loan, Barcelona’s battle to comply with Spain’s tight Financial Fair Play (FFP) restrictions threatened the viability of the transfer.

The Blaugrana could not afford to keep Rashford on at his current wage level. Currently, United are still paying a portion of his salary – and the Catalans could not afford to take this on.

In addition to this, he has also agreed that he will forego certain bonus payments to make the move easier to conduct.

While the England star has not signed a contract with LaLiga’s leaders, it is reported that a deal has been agreed “in principle”.

There is a hold up, however, as no agreement will be put in place until after Barcelona’s presidential elections later this month.

Why Man Utd have stood firm on Rashford’s transfer fee

Barcelona had tried to negotiate Man Utd’s asking price for Rashford down and even offered the possibility of another loan switch.

The Old Trafford side, however, rejected this – and not without reason.

Rashford’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is €52.2m, meaning that United are already missing out on more than €20m based on his true valuation.

Barca’s attempts to talk the Red Devils down from the €30m buyout clause were, therefore, always likely to be fanciful and unrealistic. They are already getting the player at a bargain price.

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