Manchester United remains determined to offload Rashford, with no place reserved for him in the dressing room. The World Cup will determine whether they lower the asking price.

Barcelona’s €30 million buyout clause for Rashford has officially expired. It remains unclear which club the 28-year-old English star will play for next season. His agent team is still keen to finalize a deal with Barcelona, yet the La Liga champions have splashed €80 million on Anthony Gordon, once again pretending to be broke in negotiations with Rashford and Manchester United.

Rashford’s stats at Barcelona look decent—14 goals and 14 assists. However, his performances in certain key moments and critical matches have still been questioned. For instance, he failed to make an impact in the Champions League quarterfinal against Atlético Madrid.

Rashford then missed out on the starting lineup for five consecutive games. However, in the Spanish El Clásico against Real Madrid, he scored a free kick that clinched the La Liga title for Barcelona. Unfortunately, that could be his last goal for the club. The Spanish giants opted for the younger Gordon, who is 25 years old—over three years younger than Rashford.

Gordon scored 17 goals for Newcastle last season, with particularly impressive performances in the Champions League, where his goal tally was second only to Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé, and level with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Julian Álvarez. More importantly, Gordon is strong defensively, which is a weakness of Rashford.

The Spanish media’s narrative about Barcelona and Rashford has been inconsistent—sometimes claiming Barcelona will sign him, other times saying they won’t. This back-and-forth is mainly an attempt to drive down Manchester United’s asking price. United has never had a favorable impression of Barcelona’s negotiating tactics, and fans haven’t forgotten the Frenkie de Jong saga from four years ago.

Now, Manchester United still desperately wants to offload Rashford, even though the player himself is ready to return to Carrington. However, in the new £50 million training facility opened last August, there is no designated locker for Rashford, and he has no squad number. His number 10 shirt has already been given to new signing Matheus Cunha.

Most of Manchester United’s loaned-out players have had their numbers retained—for example, Højlund’s number 9 shirt is still unassigned. Only two players are exceptions: Sancho, whose number 25 has been worn by Ugarte for two years, and Rashford. British media believe the possibility of Rashford continuing at Manchester United is extremely slim.

When Rashford was named in England’s World Cup squad last month, he thanked Barcelona, Aston Villa, the England national team, and coaches like Flick, Emery, and Tuchel, but made no mention of Manchester United or anyone associated with the club.

Although Manchester United wants to sign two new left-sided players, including a left winger, they have no intention of giving Rashford another chance. Carrick, who worked with Rashford as a player and coach for six years, is a low-profile 44-year-old English veteran who avoids public conflicts with Rashford. However, he does not need a player with repeated disciplinary issues returning to the squad.

For all parties involved, pushing for a permanent transfer remains the best option. Manchester United believes selling Rashford in the summer window should not be too difficult. However, after United returned to the Champions League, the obstacle posed by Rashford’s £325,000 weekly wage has proven greater than expected. For United, that amounts to nearly £17 million per season, and no other club is willing to take on such a financial burden.

The World Cup represents Manchester United’s last hope. Rashford has been named in England’s squad and is eager to start in Wednesday’s opener against Croatia. His main competitor is Gordon, who took his place at Barcelona. Their first meeting in England’s training camp was expected to be awkward, but Gordon said Rashford gave him some advice about living in Barcelona.

In England’s warm-up match against Costa Rica, Gordon performed better and is therefore considered the favorite to start. Manchester United needs to offload Rashford quickly, so the club hopes he gets as much playing time as possible in the World Cup and performs as well as he can.

That might attract some top clubs to consider signing him. Moreover, the fading dream of joining Barcelona should also make Rashford more focused and motivated. His playing style also suits a tournament format—he tends to shine over short periods but struggles to maintain a high level of performance over several years.

In the last World Cup in Qatar, Rashford was England’s joint top scorer. If he can produce a similar performance again, it would be great news for Manchester United, which must sell Rashford before the summer transfer window closes.

Ideally, before August 8, when Manchester United travels to Dublin for a week-long training camp and all World Cup participants return, but the club does not want to see Rashford back.

Rashford’s wages leave him with very few potential suitors. If he fails to impress at the World Cup, Manchester United will have to accept a lower price, possibly also subsidizing his salary, because Rashford himself is unwilling to take a pay cut to leave unless it is for Barcelona.