Barcelona isn’t the right choice for Marcus Rashford despite club rubbishing Manchester United return rumours

Marcus Rashford made a mistake joining Barcelona because he won’t be given the game time to properly rebuild himself.

That is the opinion of European football expert Andy Brassell, who argued that the Catalans can’t meet the England star’s needs.

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Rashford showed flashes of quality but unmistakable signs of rust during the Three Lions’ 2-0 win over Andorra at Villa Park.

talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham rated him a 5/10, while Thomas Tuchel named the forward as a player he wanted more from post-match.

Ironically, it was Rashford’s stint at Villa Park during the second half of last season that helped end his exile from the international fold.

However, the 27-year-old has been warned that he’s not been as successful in picking his second successive loan after joining Barca.

Rashford completed a season-long switch from Manchester United to the Spanish giants earlier this summer, with mixed results thus far.

The winger impressed for Hansi Flick’s side during pre-season, but has endured a subdued start to his competitive career at Camp Nou.

Rashford has had to make do as a substitute from the bench in two of the Blaugrana’s first three LaLiga games of the season.

His only start for the club saw him hooked at half-time during Barca’s 3-2 comeback win over Levante, with the club 2-0 down at the break.

As a result, reports in Spain emerged over the weekend that Barcelona chiefs were considering sending him back to Old Trafford.

That has been rubbished by sources close to the club, but Rashford has still been warned that the Nou Camp was the wrong option.

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What Rashford needs

Speaking exclusively on talkSPORT’s Trans Euro Express, European football expert Brassell discussed Rashford’s current form.

“How likely was it that he would ever be able to find the consistency of game time that he can properly rebuild himself at Barcelona?” he questioned.

“Because really, what Marcus Rashford needs is to be dropped into a team for 15 games.

“It’s like, right, play me every minute or play me most minutes for 15 games. And that can never happen at Barcelona.

“The fact that Deco said at the beginning, the most important thing for us is not defensive reinforcements.

“It’s not even a goalkeeper, even though they went out and got Joan Garcia, and he’s going to work out great for them. What we need is cover to relieve Raphinha.”

Rashford won’t play centre-forward

Brassell’s talkSPORT co-host, Danny Kelly, pointed out that cover was the operative word in Rashford’s case.

Barcelona’s first-choice at left wing, Raphinha, registered 34 goals and 25 assists across 57 appearances in all competitions last term.

Speaking in June before his loan move, Rashford highlighted his ability to play as a striker in an attempt to showcase his versatility.

Yet Brassell claimed: “There’s never really been a question that they play him centre-forward.

“It’s thought that if [Robert] Lewandowski can’t play, Ferran Torres plays instead. A very different type of striker.

“But actually, as Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique correctly identified ages ago, a very natural centre-forward, even if he isn’t a big bruiser.”

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Rashford’s Man United return rumours

“Absolutely rubbish that Barcelona is planning to end Marcus Rashford loan deal early,” Spanish football expert Guillem Balague wrote on X.

“Barca told his representative that they have a lot of confidence in Rashford’s potential and that they believe he will recover as a top player.”

During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com last month, Brassell already hinted at when Rashford can expect his role to be greater.

“I think once the Champions League starts and they’ve got game, game, game, game, game, game, game, then Rashford starts to become really important,” he explained.

“That’s the bit, I think, especially with an eight-game Champions League group where they know that they’re going to have to change the team, and now they understand the format a little bit.

“I think teams are going into it blind last season, not really knowing how many points they need to get top 24 or top eight or whatever.

“But whereas now I think there’s a marker, I think we’ll see teams probably shuffle their teams, their first 11s, a little bit more efficiently this season.

“I would imagine then Rashford starts getting proper games.”