Can Barca play Rashford?

At first, Barcelona agreeing to sign Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United for the coming season seems like a deal that works for everyone. Rashford wanted to leave United, who were keen to get his £325,000-a-week ($438,000) wages off their books, while Barcelona have been looking for an experienced player to cover at left-wing and centre-forward. The 27-year-old fits that profile.

The immediate problem, however, is whether Barca will be able to even play Rashford given their long-running issues registering players within La Liga’s strict salary limits.

Their most recent registration problems came last winter, when only Spanish government intervention allowed the team to use attacking midfielder Dani Olmo and backup forward Pau Victor in the second half of 2024-25. Uncertainty over their squad situation led the Athletic Club attacker Nico Williams to decide against joining Barca this summer, after a deal had otherwise been agreed.

The club are currently over their La Liga salary limit — essentially, the authorities maintain that during the 2024-25 the Catalan club spent more on players (inc transfer fees and wages) than they made in revenue. So, as things stand, Barcelona cannot register any new signings to play in any competition during 2025-26.

That includes Rashford (if his move is completed), goalkeepers Joan Garcia and Wojciech Szczesny and the young winger Roony Bardghji, who have already been added to Hansi Flick’s squad this summer. Barcelona’s challenge is to either make room within their salary budget by moving out high-earning current players or finding significant new revenue streams.

Barcelona are covering the entirety of Rashford’s wages but sources close to the deal, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, have told The Athletic that Rashford has taken a pay cut to the effect of between 15 per cent and 25 per cent depending on factors including bonuses. He was on €19.5m a year before tax at Manchester United (including bonuses), and the pay cut puts his gross salary at Barcelona at about €14m a year (before bonuses). This would still make him one of the biggest earners at the club alongside the likes of Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski.

In December, the Barcelona board decided to sell 25 years of future income from 475 VIP boxes at the Camp Nou, which is currently under reconstruction. That was their latest ‘financial lever’, a way of advancing future revenues.

This was to bring in €100m from two different investors: €70m from New Era Visionary Group (NEVG), which is owned by Moldovan businessman Ruslan Birladeanu, and €30m from the Qatari-backed Forta Advisors Limited. The club’s president Joan Laporta has continued to maintain that the €100m is crucial in the club returning to a “1:1” situation with La Liga, whereby they can then spend a euro for every euro they raise — thereby making it much easier to register players.

Barcelona have yet to receive all of the €100m for those VIP seats, with sources speaking on condition of anonymity telling The Athletic that NEVG have only paid €28m of their promised €70m so far. Payment of that remaining €42m from NEVG could conceivably help Barcelona to register new players this summer — if they get the green light from La Liga.

Experience tells us that these things tend to go right down to the line, with players not yet registered when the new La Liga season starts (Barcelona kick off at Mallorca on August 16), and then a race against time for a solution before the transfer window ends on Monday, September 1.

More debate in public and private between Barcelona and La Liga over the interpretation of the salary limit rules looks quite likely, too. That will not be easy, given that relations were not good even before the row over Olmo’s registration and the eventual involvement of the Spanish government.

As things stand, Rashford can sign a contract to go on loan to Barcelona for the 2025-26 campaign, but unless things change, he cannot be registered to play for the Catalan club.

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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