Marcus Rashford was celebrating on Sunday night after Barcelona’s Spanish Super Cup success but he still found time to acknowledge Real Madrid’s stars after they fell short
Marcus Rashford claimed his first trophy with Barcelona on Sunday night but took time out to wander over to the Real Madrid bench to recognise his opponents.
The Manchester United loanee helped the Catalans down their arch rivals in Saudi Arabia to claim the Spanish Super Cup in a five-goal thriller. There were contrasting emotions at full-time but Rashford was seen walking over to the Real bench, high fiving and shaking hands with every player, including Kylian Mbappe.
Rashford’s Sunday couldn’t have been more different to that of his parent club, who were dumped out of the FA Cup by Brighton with their season’s trophy ambitions all but over.
Rashford came on for the final seven minutes, replacing the two-goal hero Raphinha, as Barcelona saw the game out despite Frenkie de Jong being sent-off late on. The contest had seen three goals in first-half stoppage time with Raphinha eventually getting the winner with 17 minutes left.
The Englishman’s touch of class was not replicated by Mbappe however, with footage appearing to show the Frenchman calling his team-mates over after they received their runners-up medals. Some had prepared to give Barca a guard of honour, before Mbappe signalled them away.
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Despite the huge changes in Manchester this week there is still little talk of a second chance for Rashford at Old Trafford, where he was discarded by previous head coach Ruben Amorim.
Rashford was forced to head out on loan last term after being frozen out, joining Aston Villa. This year he’s spending the season in Barcelona and the Spanish giants are reportedly keen to trigger a £26million option to make his move permanent in the summer, albeit they may try to bring that fee down.
Whilst Amorim was understood to be the driving force behind Rashford’s United exit, the decision to let the England international go was not solely his and a parting of ways after more than two decades at the club could actually prove the best thing for the forward.
Rashford remains one of the top earners in Manchester and, with his form up and down, they may decide that the investment has not paid off. They have looked to get some of their highest paid players off the wage bill and that could also prove a factor in this summer’s decision.
It has been widely reported that Barcelona’s sporting director Deco has met with Rashford’s agent at the club’s hotel in Jeddah to inform him that they do want him on a permanent basis.
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