Barcelona sporting director Deco has given a clear explanation for why the club moved for Anthony Gordon rather than making Marcus Rashford\u2019s loan permanent.<\/p>\n
Barcelona had the chance to sign Rashford for \u20ac35 million ($40 million) at the end of a season-long loan, but decided against it and instead pursued Gordon, who cost around \u20ac80 million ($93 million) including add-ons. The choice has already looked justified on the pitch, with Gordon producing four assists in four games as Barcelona have opened the 2026\/27 season unbeaten.<\/p>\n
Deco said the club believed Gordon was a better match for Hansi Flick\u2019s style and specifically wanted more intensity in the attacking line. He was frank about the difference between the two wide players and insisted the decision followed a clear internal plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are extremely grateful to Rashford,\u201d Deco told Catalan radio station RAC1 , discussing the differences between the two wide forwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe contributed a lot last season, but our idea of play is much more linked to Anthony\u2019s. His style fits with what the coach is looking for.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the case of Gordon, we saw that he was one of the figures we needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Raphinha wasn\u2019t on the pitch, the team lost energy and with him we could solve it. The big advantage we had is that the player wanted to come and he was able to put on pressure [at Newcastle to be allowed to leave].\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe had a clear idea what we\u2019re looking for. We needed more intensity. We analyzed a lot of wingers. Signing someone from the Premier League is almost impossible, but [Flick] was clear with what he wanted and we worked on a deal from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments could be seen as a setback for Rashford, who has previously been criticised for his work rate in attack. After Barcelona chose not to keep him, his options narrowed, despite reported interest during the window, including approaches to United and from Turkish S\u00fcper Lig side Fenerbah\u00e7e.<\/p>\n
Rashford has since returned to the United first team this season and has made two starts under Michael Carrick. Carrick praised him in August after the 5-2 win over Ipswich, saying: \u201cHe\u2019s adding to the group for us; it\u2019s pretty obvious,\u201d United manager Carrick said of Rashford in August, following the 5\u20132 victory over Ipswich .<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve known him for a while. He wasn\u2019t here when I came back, and now he is. I think he\u2019s making the most of that for us and for him as well, to have the opportunity to be here. He\u2019s one of our own. He\u2019s living his dream, playing here and trying to be successful and win. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barcelona preferred Anthony Gordon to Marcus Rashford, with Deco citing fit, intensity and Flick\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19335,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1017,179],"tags":[180],"class_list":["post-19336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barcelona","category-manchester-united","tag-player-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}