Rashford even endured heavy criticism from media and supporters over the past 18 months due to poor form and was eventually loaned out to Aston Villa in January, who took a calculated risk despite his high wages, which exceeded £325,000 [$435,000] per week.

The justification for this shift in stance—less than six weeks ago, Deco explicitly named Rashford as a player Barcelona “liked”—is the preference for Liverpool forward Luis Díaz. The Colombia international is deemed to be more versatile, more experienced and more willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the team than Rashford.

With Marcus Rashford set to leave Old Trafford, BBC Sport explains how he ended up on the brink of a remarkable move to Barcelona.