Manchester United's interim manager, Michael Carrick, has stated that no decision has been made regarding Marcus Rashford's future at the club. Rashford, a 28-year-old forward, has been on loan at Barcelona after a six-month stint at Aston Villa last season.
His career at Manchester United was put on hold due to a reported fallout with former manager Ruben Amorim. Although Rashford's loan deal with Barcelona includes a £26m option to buy, the Spanish club is hesitant to make the deal permanent at that price.
When asked about leaving the door open for Rashford to play for Manchester United again, Carrick did not rule out the possibility. 'There are decisions to be made in time on certain things.
Marcus is in that situation,' Carrick said. 'At this point in time, nothing has been decided. It will be at a certain point because it has to be, but at this stage, nothing has been decided.' Rashford has scored 12 goals and assisted 13 in 43 appearances for Barcelona but has faced criticism for his recent performances. Manchester United will not renegotiate the fee with Barcelona if they decide not to exercise the option to buy.
The club is confident that they can receive a higher fee from another team. Regarding strengthening the left-wing position, Carrick revealed that there have been conversations about recruitment.
Manchester United is keen to bolster their options ahead of a likely return to Europe next season. The club is reportedly interested in RB Leipzig forward Yan Diomande and Everton's Iliman Ndiaye. Carrick suggests that concrete talks will take place at the right time. 'There are decisions to be made, of course, but also timings are a thing,' Carrick said.
'Obviously, my situation is one thing, it's just working through that. There's certainly conversations to come because it's natural, but in terms of an actual 'this is going to happen', that's not something I've committed to, recruitment-wise, but we've certainly had conversations. That's just natural.'