Marcus Rashford ready to take major step to join Barcelona from Manchester United: Reports

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is reportedly willing to lower his salary demands to complete a potential permanent move to Barcelona.

Rashford, 27, has recently popped up as a hot topic for transfer speculation. He has been left out of the Red Devils' matchday squad nine times in his boyhood club's last 10 games across all competitions.

Now, according to Daily Star, Rashford is interested in joining Barcelona despite interest from Arsenal, Napoli, and Borussia Dortmund. He is hoping to join Barcelona on a short-term loan deal this season.

Furthermore, the 60-cap England international is willing to take a wage cut in the summer to seal a permanent move to Barcelona this summer. The player is on a salary package of over £300,000-a-week.

Should Rashford move to Barcelona in the near future, he could prove to be a brilliant signing for them. He would provide good competition to Raphinha and Lamine Yamal in Hansi Flick's 4-2-3-1 formation.

Overall, Rashford has made 426 appearances across competitions for Manchester United so far. He has found the back of the opposition net 138 times and recorded 63 assists for Ruben Amorim's outfit.

Alan Shearer provides prediction for upcoming Fulham-Manchester United league encounter

In his column for Metro, Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer predicted a win for Fulham in a Premier League home clash against Manchester United on Sunday (January 26). He wrote:

"I'm not convinced with Manchester United, I know they've won in the week, and they might be slightly better away from home... but I'm going to go for a Fulham win. We know the way Fulham play."

Shearer, who has 260 Premier League goals to his name, added:

"United are better when they can sit and hit you on the counter-attack. They may be able to do that more away from home, than they can at Old Trafford, because of who and what they are they have to attack there. I think Marco Silva has got his team in a good position this season and the belief that they'll have... he'll have them tuned in and they'll have too much for United."

Manchester United are 13th in the Premier League table with just 26 points from 22 matches, while Fulham are 10th with 33 points from 22 games.

Last August, the Red Devils opened their 2024-25 Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford. Joshua Zirkzee scored the winner in the 87th minute after coming on as a substitute.