Barcelona have pledged their support to under-fire loanee Marcus Rashford after brushing off suggestions they could send him back to Manchester United in January, reports say.
Rashford sealed a long-awaited loan move to Barcelona this summer in a bid to reignite a career which began to stall at Old Trafford. But his performances in Catalonia have divided opinion and even England manager Thomas Tuchel confessed he is lacking “wow performances” on the international stage.
With the spotlight firmly on Rashford, reports in Spain have claimed Barcelona have been so underwhelmed with the 27-year-old across his 94 minutes of La Liga action that they are already considering terminating his loan at the next available opportunity.
Those suggestions have now been firmly debunked, with Barcelona understood to remain fully committed to Rashford at this point.
Firstly, Spanish journalist Guillem Balague revealed Barcelona officials have spoken with Rashford’s representatives directly to debunk the story, insisting they still believe he will rediscover his best form in Catalonia this season.
Fabrizio Romano was among those to reinforce those claims, insisting there is “absolutely zero” truth to suggestions Barcelona could offload Rashford in January.
Barcelona are said to be very happy with the deal to sign Rashford, who has been forced to accept a reserve role so far this season. He has come off the bench in two of his three La Liga outings, with his only start ending after 45 minutes.
The chance to ignite his season on international duty was missed as England picked up a turgid victory over Andorra, after which Tuchel, while complimentary of Rashford’s attitude and work rate, confessed things have not yet clicked for the United loanee in an England shirt.
Rashford will hope to be back in action on Tuesday, when England continue their World Cup qualification campaign away at Serbia.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Marcus Rashford: Barcelona ‘Send Message’ to Under-Fire Loanee.