The justification for this shift in stance—less than six weeks ago, Deco explicitly named Rashford as a player Barcelona “liked”—is the preference for Liverpool forward Luis Díaz. The Colombia international is deemed to be more versatile, more experienced and more willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the team than Rashford.

Marcus Rashford has reportedly suffered a transfer blow as Barcelona do not see the Manchester United star as a priority target this summer.

Marcus Rashford is keen on Barcelona after being granted permission to report to Manchester United pre-season late but the La Liga giants have made it clear he was not their first choice