Deco explains why Marcus Rashford ‘suffered’ at Manchester United but is thriving at Barcelona

Manchester United castaway Rashford may just have found a new home for himself at Barca.

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford, right, runs with the ball past Chelsea's Wesley Fofana during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Chelsea and Barcelona in London, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo)

Marcus Rashford has had a rough year as a footballer. After being frozen out at Manchester United under manager Ruben Amorim because the new boss could not “get Rashford to buy into his ideas”. The forward was loaned off to Aston Villa and then made his way to Spain to play for Barcelona on loan.

But the castaway Rashford may just have found a new home for himself at Barca, who are currently on top of the La Liga standings after 14 games, with Real Madrid on the chase with a point less.

Barcelona’s sporting director Deco explained why Rashford “suffered” at United and has been thriving at Barcelona.

“He’s happy with us. Marcus is a fantastic player. He faced the responsibility of becoming an important player at Man United — United, like us, are one of the biggest clubs in the world — too young. He suffered a bit with this change of generation at United too,” Deco was quoted as saying. “If you see United in the last five years, they had difficulties rebuilding the team, to become stronger again. He was there. So it’s not easy for a player [from whom] people demand a lot. When you are an important player, you have a lot of responsibility.

“We were looking for a player like him on the market. A player that could play in the three positions up front. We were able to sign Marcus on loan now because of his desire to play for Barcelona. He waited a lot. He knew that we were dealing with financial rules. But he was patient. He waited and we’re happy to have him,” Deco added.

Rashford is currently on loan with Barcelona but with a clause that allows the player and club to make their partnership permanent for a fee as low as £26 million (€30 million).

While Barcelona lead the Spanish league standings, Manchester United are seventh in the Premier League race, nine points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

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For the record, when Rashford was initially loaned to Aston Villa, Amorim had explained why the one-time star of the team was suddenly surplus to requirements at the Manchester giants.

“What I say is I couldn’t put Marcus to see the way you’re supposed to play football and to train the way I see it,” Amorim said. “And sometimes you have one player who is really good with one coach and the same player with another coach is different. I just wish the best to Rashford and Unai Emery (Aston Villa manager), and they can connect because he’s a very good player.”