Marcus Rashford is still waiting on Barcelona's call. The club can trigger a £26m permanent move until June 15, but he remains a Manchester United player for now, and Bayern München are interested if the Catalans step back.

Why Barcelona are still the priority

The key point is Rashford's stance. He is refusing to entertain Bayern or other options while Barcelona decide what to do, and that lines up with the way the deal has been handled all the way through. Ben Jacobs said Manchester United are pushing Barcelona to take the €30m option, adding: "Man United's position is to ignore all of the noise and all of the other signings and keep reiterating to Barcelona that this €30m option to buy is excellent value for money and is well below Rashford's value! Man United do not want Rashford back!"

There is still some currency drift around the clause, with some outlets putting it at £26m and others at €30m, but the buyout is the same one. Barcelona finished first in La Liga, and their last five league results were LWLWW, so this is not a side with any obvious footballing reason to panic about a permanent decision.

Bayern are waiting, but the wages still matter

Bayern's interest is real enough to keep the story alive. Their own title-winning season, finished first in the Bundesliga, means they are not moving from a position of weakness. Even so, Rashford's £325,000-a-week wages are described as the biggest stumbling block to finding him a new club, which is why the permanent move has not been as clean as the footballing fit suggests.

Anthony Gordon also said Rashford was telling him about Barcelona's team spirit and the city, saying: "He was just telling me how good the lads are there, the team spirit that they have, which I heard already from the people in Barca." That is the sort of line that sounds more like a player settling into a plan than one actively lining up alternatives.

For now, though, the plan still depends on Barcelona before June 15. If they do not take up the option, Bayern are there, and the wage package remains the part of the deal that keeps everything from moving quickly.

Compiled by the ClutchBrief Desk with AI assistance, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →