Marcus Rashford was extremely fortunate to land his ‘incredible’ Barcelona loan move from Manchester United, Steve McManaman has claimed.
Both Rashford and United have struggled the last two seasons, with the forward failing to hit double figures in the Premier League on both occasions and the club limping to a 15th-place finish in Ruben Amorim’s debut campaign.
And while Rashford now has a chance to prove himself in La Liga, McManaman isn’t even sure where his playing time will come from.
‘It’s certainly important that he hits the ground running. I thought it was an incredible move for him, to be very honest,’ the pundit began at an ESPN media event on Tuesday.
‘The last couple of seasons at Manchester United, the way Manchester United performed – for him to leave and go to arguably one of the most exciting teams in Europe, I thought: ‘He’s got an amazing agent.’
‘Where’s he going to fit in? The answer is, I don’t know. Because Raphinha, Robert [Lewandowski] and Lamine [Yamal], they had the most incredible season,’ McManaman continued. ‘So you think that is set in stone. You’ve got Ferran [Torres] behind them. They’ve moved a couple of players out – if anything, when you look at Barcelona’s team, they need a couple of more defenders… but they go and bring in yet another forward. So we’ll wait and see.’
Marcus Rashford could face a battle to earn playing time for Barcelona this season, according to Steve McManaman (right)
Rashford has played four times for Barca in the preseason but is not officially registered yet
Rashford has played in four friendlies for Barca thus far, and opened his account earlier this month against South Korean side Daegu.
He also produced a brutal open goal miss (to go along with an assist) against Como in the Joan Gamper Trophy over the weekend.
The club has yet to officially register the England star due to its ongoing financial troubles, but McManaman is rooting for the 27-year-old, as ESPN prepares for another season of broadcasting La Liga games across it platforms in the US. He also suggested that Rashford could slot in as a No. 9 if Lewandowski faces fitness issues.
‘I hope he’s a huge success, and I hope he does play,’ McManaman said of Rashford. ‘Because it will benefit everybody if he does play.’
Of course, Rashford is not the only Englishman preparing for his first La Liga season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has had a bit more time to settle following his blockbuster switch from Liverpool (and participation in the Club World Cup), but former Liverpool and Real Madrid star McManaman is hopeful his adaptation will further.
‘He knows how to integrate into the Real Madrid side, he knows how to adapt. He needs to learn the language as soon as possible. I know he did his [introductory] press conference in Spanish, but his Spanish is not that good. That was just a bit of the smoke and mirrors…,’ he said.
Trent Alexander-Arnold got a head start in adjusting to Real Madrid as he played at the Club World Cup
‘But he made a big impression. He knows how important Liverpool is. He knows that he needs to keep the fans at Liverpool as happy as they possibly can, because he left under a cloud to certain extent, even though he got a lovely reception at the end of the season. He’s back there a lot. He speaks to people a lot, because I’ve spoken to those people, so I don’t think there’s any any problem, really.’
In McManaman’s eyes, Alexander-Arnold and Rashford will win over their new fans and teammates by simply performing on the pitch.
But the former Galactico did admit that earning the support of the Spanish faithful ‘is a bit of a PR exercise’ as well.
‘You turn up, you say all the right things, you smile a lot… and then you try and score three on a Saturday.’
That would be quite a debut for Rashford, whose Barcelona begin their La Liga campaign on Saturday against Mallorca.
Alexander-Arnold and Real Madrid will wait until Tuesday to kick off their campaign against Osasuna.
