Anthony Gordon’s potential impending transfer to Barcelona has caught the football world by surprise.
Barca’s move for the Newcastle United forward was unexpected enough that Bayern Munich are thought to have shrugged off news of the Catalan club’s interest as simply being a negotiation tactic to drive down the cost of bringing in Marcus Rashford on a permanent move.
But Barcelona’s interest is solid enough that they have in fact outbid Bayern and Gordon is now expected to complete a move. So with both players playing similar roles…what does that mean for Rashford?
Marcus Rashford’s Barcelona future in doubt
Reports on both sides of the Bay of Biscay differ slightly in the detail, but nobody currently seems willing to say that Barca’s move for Gordon kills off the chances of Rashford making his loan from Manchester United into a permanent move.
Barcelona hold the option to take Rashford on a longer-term basis for a £26m fee, but are yet to exercise that option.
Mundo Deportivo report that Rashford is still an option for Barcelona, regardless of Gordon’s imminent arrival.
They do however agree with Sky Sports that the finances on Gordon’s transfer make more sense to Barcelona than Rashford’s, despite the transfer fee being nearly three times the size.
Gordon is three and a half years younger than Rashford and so has better resale value – and, more significantly, his wages are thought likely to be substantially lower than Rashford’s, who is reported to be earning £300,000 a week at Old Trafford.
However, there is still hope for Rashford that he might join Gordon at Camp Nou.
That’s because the Mirror write that Barcelona are actually looking at Gordon to play as a centre-forward, replacing the departing Robert Lewandowski.
It is possible, then, that both players could play in the same side, rather than competing for a single berth in the side.
There could be more moving parts at play, too, with rumours that Raphinha could leave Barcelona.
That would free up both a position in the side and the finances that could make signing Rashford that much more appealing.
