Marcus Rashford has been given the chance to revive his career at Barcelona with a season-long loan move from Manchester United announced Wednesday.
The England forward, who was once considered among Europe’s top talents, has seen his career stall in recent years after falling out of favor at United and ending last season on loan at Aston Villa.
The 27-year-old Rashford will join a Barcelona attack that includes young star Lamine Yamal, Brazil international Raphinha and veteran striker Robert Lewandowski.
Rashford had arrived in Barcelona on Sunday to sign his contract. He had already met his teammates and reportedly trained with the group on Tuesday.
Financial details were not immediately disclosed. Spanish media said the agreement with United would give Barcelona an option to buy Rashford for about 30 million euros ($35 million).
Spanish champions Barcelona had looked set to sign Spain forward Nico Williams this offseason until he agreed a 10-year deal to stay at Athletic Bilbao earlier this month. That opened the door for Rashford to make the switch.
Barcelona had the best attack in Spanish soccer and one of the most prolific across Europe last season, but had been trying to add another piece to the front line to go along with Yamal, Raphinha and Lewandowski.
The trio helped the club score 102 goals as it won the Spanish league title, 24 goals more than runner-up Real Madrid. The Catalan club also led the Champions League in goals with 43, five more than champion Paris Saint-Germain, before being eliminated by Inter Milan in the semifinals.
Rashford had progressed through United’s famed academy that produced greats like Ryan Giggs and David Beckham. He made 429 appearances, scored 138 goals and helped United win five major trophies, including two FA Cups and the Europa League.
But he struggled to consistently live up to the hype that surrounded him when he burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2016 — only managing 20 goals or more in three seasons. In his last two seasons at United he scored a combined 15 goals and added another four in 17 games on loan at Villa.
But Rashford’s ability has rarely been called into question and he recently earned a recall to the England squad under new coach Thomas Tuchel, putting him in contention for next year’s World Cup if the national team qualifies.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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