Barcelona are keen to bring in Marcus Rashford this month, but that will only happen if Ansu Fati leaves, either on loan or permanently. As things stand, there is not enough salary space for the Manchester United attacker to be signed, which means that a departure is absolutely essential.
Fati is the main candidate to leave, as Rashford is seen as his replacement. Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen have both been linked with exits, but Barcelona’s preference is to move on the 22-year-old, especially as he has no place in the plans of head coach Hansi Flick.
Fati has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur this week, but according to reports, he is firm in his desire to remain at Barcelona for the remainder of the season, believing that he can force himself back into Flick’s thoughts. As such, this would kill any chance of Rashford arriving, although there is still hope for the Catalans that things can happen.
According to Diario AS, Jose Mourinho is very keen to bring Fati to Fenerbahce. The former Real Madrid manager has been very unimpressed with Allan Saint-Maximin this season, and his idea would be to replace the on-loan Al Ahli winger with Fati.
Mourinho would want Fenerbahce to immediately start negotiations with Barcelona in the event that Saint-Maximin’s loan deal is cancelled. The Catalans would undoubtedly welcome this, although a condition would be that a significant portion of wages must be covered as part of an agreement for the remainder of the season.
While Barcelona could be optimistic about Fenerbahce’s interest, it would be a very big surprise if Fati gave the green light for a deal to be completed. He seems determined to remain in Catalonia until the summer at the very least, and if he does, it would be almost certain that Rashford does not arrive.
