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.

Liam Rosenior has framed Chelsea’s current crop as a long-term project modelled on Manchester United’s 1990s youth revolution. He invoked the Class of ’92 era as an example of what sustained faith in young players can deliver and argued the club must be equally daring if it is to replicate that success.

“I was a Manchester United fan and I am now massively a Chelsea fan,” Rosenior revealed. “I remember Sir Alex Ferguson was brave enough to put six or seven players aged between 19 and 21 into a title-winning team because he believed in them.

“They grew and won trophy after trophy. It was an amazing period in that club’s history. Without that bravery, it doesn’t happen. There is potential for that here.”

The piece recalled Ferguson’s summer of 1995 decision to rely on academy graduates after losing the title to Blackburn Rovers. Paul Scholes (20), David Beckham (20), Nicky Butt (20), Gary (20) and Phil Neville (18) all featured in the opening game of 1995–96, with Ryan Giggs then 21 completing the youthful half-dozen.

Yet Rosenior also highlighted the quality already in the squad. “Speak about Moisés Caicedo or Enzo Fernández or Cole Palmer or Reece James—world-class players and still very, very young,” Rosenior insisted. “That is the ultimate ambition for this club—to create that again.”

The article noted United’s average starting XI age of 25.5 in 1995–96, the second-youngest in the division, compared with Chelsea’s current average of 24.7 and a relative lack of senior figures. Enzo Maresca had warned in December that experience is crucial: “When you have 20 and 21-year-olds and a player who is 30 or 31, and he starts to say something to them, it’s invaluable,” the Italian boss explained in December. “But it’s the strategy of the club,” he sighed. Less than two weeks later, he was gone.

Tosin Adarabioyo, who turned 28 in September, is the oldest player in Chelsea’s Premier League squad, which includes 12 players aged 21 or under. The club have not spent on a player over the age of 25 since co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley were appointed in 2022.

The debate over youth versus experience has a long memory. Alan Hansen declared: “You can’t win anything with kids.” Gary Neville reflected the same reality: “I’ve said many times that Alan Hansen was right, you don’t win anything with kids,” Neville told Sky Sports back in 2019. “The Class of ’92 didn’t win that Premier League title. We had Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Roy Keane, Eric Cantona, Brian McClair and Peter Schmeichel. We had world-class performers and two of the best centre backs ever. Keane was the most inspirational captain and leader, Cantona was world-class, Schmeichel was the best in the world and Dennis Irwin was brilliant.

“They pulled us through it.”

Reports linking Xavi Hernández to Manchester United have some basis, but the momentum appears to be coming chiefly from the coach rather than the club.

A first full season in charge at Barcelona delivered the Spanish Super Cup and the 2022–23 La Liga crown ahead of a Real Madrid side led by Karim Benzema. The tensions beneath that success then surfaced in the next campaign, which ended without a trophy and finished with Xavi relieved of his duties.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Xavi is “ready” to return to management, “would love to take a job in the Premier League” and is “very open” to the Manchester United opportunity created by Ruben Amorim’s departure. The same report also stressed that “nothing advanced” and “nothing concrete” has arisen between the club and Xavi.

Xavi’s return to Barcelona was presented as a restoration of a long tradition. As Pep Guardiola put it, “Johan Cruyff painted the chapel,” Guardiola once mused. “And Barcelona coaches since merely restore or improve it.” With just a little more than two years coaching in Qatar on his résumé, Xavi made clear his commitment to possession football: “We cannot lose our ‘house style,’” he declared. “That’s the thing which has made the club great.”

During his two full seasons as Barcelona boss, the team averaged 64% possession in La Liga, but sustained penetration was often lacking. The 2022–23 title owed as much to Robert Lewandowski converting half-chances as to a tight defence. Half of Barcelona’s league wins in that period were by a single-goal margin and 1–0 was the most common scoreline.

Xavi himself acknowledged the frustrations: “I lose my patience because I see the pass but what I think should happen doesn’t happen,” he admitted shortly before announcing his decision to quit in January 2024. The hierarchy persuaded him to stay, confirming that decision in April, and his dismissal was revealed in May. He often said that “Barcelona is the most difficult club to manage in the world.”

As ex-United defender Gary Neville noted on Sky Sports, “Barcelona will never change for anybody,” he told Sky Sports. “I don’t believe United should change for anybody. The club has to find a manager who has got experience and who’s willing to play fast, entertaining, attacking and aggressive football.” Given the current picture, any move for Xavi would require careful thought on both sides.