FC Barcelona have reached an agreement in principle to sign Marcus Rashford from Manchester United. He will be joining the Catalan club on an initial loan deal with an option to buy, and Hansi Flick will now have the left-winger he desperately wanted.
Rashford’s arrival at Barcelona is met with a lot of expectation. There are a lot of eyeballs on the Manchester United academy graduate, who hasn’t had the best of times in recent years, but Flick could be the ideal person to unlock that potential.
The Englishman is set to undergo his extensive medicals very soon before he signs for Barcelona as an official first-team player. Rashford will be keen to be on the pre-season tour to Asia as he looks to integrate with new teammates.
The #10 is not available
One major question that Barcelona fans will have on their minds right now is what jersey number Rashford might take at the club. It is worth noting that he wore the number 10 for Manchester United for many years.
Obviously, the number 10 is not there for the taking at Barcelona, with its new owner being announced just a few days ago. Teenage sensation Lamine Yamal will be the latest player to wear the iconic jersey as he looks to define an era, like some of his predecessors.
At Aston Villa, where he was on loan last season, Rashford wore the number 9, a number usually worn by strikers. However, Robert Lewandowski already has that number occupied at Barcelona, which takes it out of the equation as well.
Barcelona should give him the #19!
Thus, the ideal number Barcelona should really give Marcus Rashford is the #19 jersey. The 27-year-old Englishman has already worn that number before during his early years with the Manchester United first team, and he is familiar with it.
Incidentally, Lamine was the player who was wearing the #19 at Barcelona last season, but with him now moving to the #10, it perfectly falls in place for Rashford. Wearing the 19 and playing on the left wing, the Englishman would hope to make an impact.
Of course, there are other numbers that Rashford might look at, should he wish to, but there aren’t a lot of first-team jerseys that are vacant at the moment. Regardless, the #19 makes the most sense on paper, and let’s wait and see if the player also chooses the same in the coming days.
