Barcelona hopes Manchester United will reduce Rashford's price by 2 million! Strict management: arriving 2 minutes late means being benched

Reports say Rashford ended up as a substitute in Barcelona's La Liga game last weekend because he was two minutes late to the warm-up on the morning of the match! He was supposed to start, but due to being two minutes late, he was placed on the bench.

Last Thursday, Rashford scored a brace in the Champions League group stage opener against Newcastle United, marking his first and second goals since joining Barcelona on loan. His career at Barça seems to be getting on track, with rumors even suggesting Barcelona wants to make the transfer permanent in January.

In Sunday’s La Liga home game against Getafe, Rashford was expected to start again since Yamal was still sidelined due to injury. However, Ferran Torres was included in the starting lineup and scored twice in the first half, proving his worth.

Rashford came on after halftime replacing Raphinha and performed well, assisting Dani Olmo to seal the score at 3-0. Still, he might have had opportunities to do more, such as scoring his first La Liga goal.

The UK’s The Times revealed that Rashford was only two minutes late during training, but Barcelona coach Hans Flick demands strict punctuality. Last week, Raphinha was also punished with a bench role for being late to fitness training. Barcelona understands they must be tougher with Rashford because he has had previous issues with punctuality.

British media reported that in December 2022, Rashford overslept and arrived late to a team meeting at Manchester United. As a result, Ten Hag dropped him from the starting lineup, but he came off the bench to score the winning goal against Wolves in the Premier League.

It is said that Flick values Rashford highly and wants to help him regain his peak form, but this breach disappointed the coach. Fortunately, the Barcelona manager still seems to trust Rashford, not only bringing him on early as a substitute but also explaining after the match that the substitution was due to physical reasons.

“For Rashford, being on the bench is normal; we have matches every three or four days, so we must manage his playing time,” Flick said after the victory. “You saw Fermín (López) got injured because he played too much, so we have to consider these things. Barcelona won 3-0 and took all three points, which is wonderful and lets us focus on the game.”

Manchester United legend Scholes harshly criticized Rashford's lack of discipline: “I really struggle to be happy for Rashford, mainly because of his attitude. In his final period at United, that attitude was disgraceful. He wanted to leave, often strolling during matches, which was shameful. Once a player tries to leave, it usually happens again. Last night, he was late again at Barcelona. He can’t get away with that at Barça, no chance. Sleeping in before a game? Where’s your phone, your alarm? He definitely has the talent to be world-class, but he will never have the right mentality.”

The Manchester Evening News reported that Barcelona is indeed interested in buying Rashford, but they want Manchester United to lower the price. The 27-year-old has a €30 million buyout clause in his loan contract, but Barcelona hopes to reduce it by €2 million to €28 million (£25 million). Manchester United naturally disagrees and emphasizes that Rashford's permanent transfer fee to Aston Villa last season was £40 million, so selling to Barcelona already involves a significant discount and cannot be reduced further.

Rashford has three years left on his Manchester United contract, earning £325,000 per week, and Barcelona covers his full salary during the loan. As long as Amolin remains in charge at Manchester United, Rashford has no chance of returning to the club where he grew up.