Barcelona are closing in on a deal to sign Marcus Rashford from Manchester United, according to reports.
Rashford has been holding out for a move to Barcelona this summer after spending the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa.
In May, Rashford’s brother and agent travelled to Barcelona for talks with the Spanish champions over a possible deal.
Barcelona, however, were prioritising a deal for Nico Williams, who has since signed a new contract with Athletic Bilbao, while a move for Luis Diaz has proven to be too expensive with Bayern Munich’s £58.6 million bid rejected by Liverpool this week.
According to The Athletic, Barcelona have now made an offer to loan Rashford for the upcoming season and the deal includes an option to buy.
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The report adds that United have agreed to the proposal, which has been submitted via intermediaries, and negotiations are ‘at the final stages’.
Rashford spent time in Marbella earlier this summer and has been training individually while his United teammates returned to pre-season training last week.
Barcelona head coach, Hansi Flick, has also endorsed the club’s push to sign Rashford.
When asked about a potential deal for the 27-year-old in May, Flick said: ‘I don’t want to speak about players which are not in my team, but of course Luis Diaz and Marcus Rashford are fantastic players. I like them and we’ll see what happens.’
Rashford is now set to become Barcelona’s second signing of the summer after the Spanish champions triggered the €25 million (£21.3m) release clause in Joan Garcia’s contract with Espanyol last month.
Barcelona reported back for pre-season training last Sunday and will begin the defence of their La Liga title on August 16 with their opening game away to Mallorca.
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