Lineker urges Man Utd star to leave Old Trafford for good after receiving ‘bizarre’ criticism

Gary Lineker has advised Marcus Rashford to make his loan move to Barcelona permanent, arguing that the forward is “better off at Barcelona on all levels” than returning to Manchester United.

Rashford, 28, left United in January 2025 after falling out of favour under Ruben Amorim, who dropped the academy graduate from the squad within a month of taking charge at Old Trafford. A short spell at Aston Villa followed before the England international secured a season-long switch to the Camp Nou last summer, with Barcelona holding an option to buy for €30 million.

Although not a guaranteed starter for Hansi Flick, Rashford has contributed 10 goals and 13 assists in 37 appearances, performances Lineker describes as “impeccable” and sufficient to convince the Catalan club they want him on a permanent basis.

Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, the former England striker said: “He’s not getting many minutes at the moment. That’s for obvious reasons. Lamine Yamal is playing on the right and Raphinha is playing on the left and they are both in the top five players in world football. So it’s understandable. But whenever he comes on he does really well.”

Lineker believes Rashford’s development is best served in Spain, away from what he calls the “toxicity” of the British press. “If he goes back to Manchester United he will face all the old criticism again. ‘Oh, He’s focusing too much on helping kids have food on their table’, like it’s a bad thing. They did this bizarre thing about why he was wearing some kind of flashy necklace. They don’t do that nonsense over there [in Spain] so he just gets on with his football.”

Barcelona are expected to negotiate a lower fee than the current €30 million clause, while United have already accepted the loss of their home-grown star and are scouring the market for a replacement left winger, with RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande reportedly topping their shortlist.