Marcus Rashford may have been dealt a potential setback to his hopes of leaving Manchester United to join Barcelona on a permanent basis, as he had initially desired when he signed with the La Liga giants on a loan deal until the end of the season.

Barcelona has the option to sign Rashford from United in the summer for a fee worth €30million (£26million), and there have been varying reports claiming to provide updates on what the Spanish club could do when the transfer window opens, given that Rashford expressed a desire to leave United last summer and has spoken publicly about his wish to remain at the Camp Nou beyond this season.

However, reports in recent weeks have speculated whether or not Barcelona will actually sign Rashford in the summer or look to pursue other targets instead, with Benfica star Andreas Schjelderup being linked with Barcelona in the past and being listed as a potential alternative to Rashford should the La Liga club decide to look elsewhere.

Portuguese news outlet Record reported that Benfica are 'open' to selling Schjelderup amid speculation that Barcelona could swoop in and sign the 21-year-old forward, which has led to increased speculation about the potential transfer.

Schjelderup recently admitted that he would be open to joining Barcelona after being informed of reported interest from the La Liga club, stating 'The truth is I didn’t know anything about this, but if it were true, it would be fantastic,' in an interview with Norwegian TV channel TV2 last week.

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Marcus Rashford has previously spoken about his desire to remain at Barcelona, as seen in his statements and actions, which have made it clear that he wishes to stay with the team beyond the length of his loan spell.

This follows a report from Spanish newspaper Sport, which claimed that Barcelona have paused pursuing a permanent deal for Rashford for the time being, and it remains unclear if that will change over the next few weeks, given that the England international remains contracted to United until the summer of 2028.

Rashford has made it clear that he would like to remain at Barcelona beyond the length of his loan spell, which will come to a close at the end of the season, stating 'Of course, what I want is to stay at Barca,' in a previous interview with Sport, where he also mentioned that 'It's an end goal, but it's not the reason why I'm training hard and giving it my best.

'The purpose is to win, as Barca is a huge, fantastic club, built to win titles,' Rashford said, highlighting his commitment to the team and its goals.

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