Barcelona want to keep Marcus Rashford beyond the end of his current loan, according to recent reports, with the club exploring options to register him for the 2026–27 season. Rashford has become a meaningful contributor this term, the first male England international to play for Barcelona since Gary Lineker in the 1980s, and has recorded seven goals and eight assists across all competitions. Only two team-mates, Lamine Yamal and Fermín López, have produced better returns.

The forward initially benefited from injuries within Barcelona’s frontline but is not an automatic starter when the squad is fully available. He was among the substitutes when Hansi Flick’s side thumped Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final, and he was not expected to be included from the first whistle in Sunday’s final against Real Madrid.

Reports say the loan contains a release clause of €30 million (£26 million, $34.9 million). The coverage does not explicitly state Barcelona will trigger that clause, only that the club want Rashford on the books beyond this season. How Barcelona proceed may involve negotiation over price or further temporary measures given their strict financial constraints. As Flick put it: “The truth is, the club can’t pay hundreds of millions for a new player, like other teams, so we have to be smart with our players.”

Rashford’s preference to remain in Spain is clear. “Of course, what I want is to stay at Barça.”

At Manchester United, attitudes appear unchanged despite changes in coaching personnel. Amorim may have been the one to drop Rashford before the first Manchester derby of the 2024–25 season and never give him another minute for United. He is also reported to have said he would rather name his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital on the bench instead of Rashford, and Rashford was banned from United’s training ground until the coach had left for the day during the summer window. The Athletic claims that “United as a club” shared the coach’s desire for “more application” from Rashford.

Barcelona’s apparent interest and the player’s own wishes create a negotiated path that both clubs will need to navigate before the loan expires in June.

Kobbie Mainoo has been described as “in a good place” by caretaker boss Darren Fletcher as Manchester United prepare for life after Ruben Amorim. Fletcher said Mainoo has been calm around the squad and that a run in the team could be close.

Things became difficult for Mainoo earlier in the season. He requested to leave the club on loan in the summer and was thought to be pushing for a temporary exit this month, only for Amorim to insist he should remain as valuable backup to Bruno Fernandes. With Amorim gone, Mainoo is thought to be in higher spirits behind the scenes.

“He seems in a good place,” Fletcher explained. “Kobbie doesn’t give you much, so you wouldn’t know if he was in a good place or not so good. He’s like that. That’s his natural way.

“But I know him well and I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve seen him around throughout the season and I’ve had conversations with him in general, but he’s in a good place.

“I know Kobbie and I think he knows me and he knows [interim first-team coach] Travis Binnion, so he’s comfortable with his environment, he’s in a good place, he’s trained well.”

Mainoo’s future at Old Trafford is expected to be one of the first matters for United’s interim manager. Former players Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy are all thought to be under consideration for a role that would buy the club time as they search for a permanent replacement to Amorim.

Fletcher will take charge of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round game against Brighton & Hove Albion, a match that could hand Mainoo just a second start of the season after the infamous Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby Town.

“I think we’ve had good success in the competition in recent years—won it a couple years ago, lost in a final,” Fletcher continued. “It’s an amazing competition. It’s the first trophy that I won as a player. It’s a special tournament.

“With the season so far—not in Europe, out of the League Cup, Premier League obviously—the FA Cup’s a trophy that we should be vying to win and giving ourselves every opportunity to win.”

Virgil van Dijk cut through the headlines after Liverpool’s 0-0 draw at Arsenal on Thursday, asking why the Reds were receiving credit for a match that produced little attacking substance.

Arne Slot’s side recorded 52% possession away from home but failed to register a single shot on target. The fixture was described by van Dijk as “largely devoid of attacking quality in the final third” as Liverpool struggled to turn control of the ball into clear goal attempts.

Van Dijk made his feelings plain on the reaction to the performance. “I am a bit surprised that people think this is a good performance because when we have 60 or 70% ball possession against other teams people find it boring and now it is a good performance,” he said.

He was equally candid about the team’s shortcomings in decisive areas. “But again we hardly created a chance and now we say, ‘What a performance.’ This is who were are, we can dominate possession, we know how to do build-up, but we struggle, obviously, in a few things.

“Set pieces are one of them, dominating moments when we are in the final third, to find the right pass and the right execution, that is something that is still not at the level some other teams are and that’s why we are working every single day.

“Yes we did really well in ball possession but for me it wasn’t that much different than playing Leeds at home or Fulham away, where we dominated ball possession as well.

“But then people are annoyed that these teams are not of the magnitude of Arsenal it is not good enough, which I completely agree on, by the way, because I want to see us creating more chances as well.”

The match’s major incident saw Conor Bradley stretchered off after falling while challenging for a long ball. Gabriel Martinelli was widely criticised for dropping the ball on a prone Bradley and attempting to force him off the field; Martinelli later apologised, saying he did not understand the severity of the situation.

Van Dijk addressed the incident and Bradley’s condition: “Our thoughts are with Conor, first and foremost,” Van Dijk reflected. “Hopefully it’s not the worst but it doesn’t look great.

“A long ball came over, Conor was challenging for it and then he fell down on the pitch. Martinelli obviously then pushes him off the pitch. Our players reacted to that and we all came together. Everyone was unhappy with that moment and rightly so.

“It doesn’t look great for Conor and it doesn’t look great on Martinelli either. We are focusing on Conor. He’ll have medical tests in the next 24 hours and then we’ll have to adapt.”