Joan Laporta reveals Marcus Rashford's 'honest' admission about his Man United career

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed an honest admission about Marcus Rashford and Manchester United after he was officially unveiled as the Blaugrana's new signing.

After being frozen out at his boyhood club, Rashford has completed a loan move to the La Liga champions, who are covering his £325,000-a-week pay packet and have the option to purchase him outright for £30 million at the end of the 2025/26 season.

Following in the footsteps of Gary Lineker as an England player signing for Barca, the 27-year-old has taken on the No.14 shirt previously worn by Johan Cruyff and Thierry Henry.

There was a time where Rashford leaving United was unthinkable after he came through the ranks of the club he supported and made his debut in memorable fashion by scoring twice in a 2016 Europa League game with FC Midtjylland.

But spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa after being banished by Ruben Amorim, who dropped him from the squad for the derby against Manchester City after being unimpressed by his performance in training.

Rashford expressed his want for a new challenge and returned to the England squad after shining in his stint.

Marcus Rashford will wear the No.14 shirt at Barcelona. Image: Getty

He looks to have played his final game at United and according to Barca chief Laporta, Rashford's intention was always to be like Paul Scholes and Gary Neville and only represent the Red Devils - until circumstances changed.

"We are very happy because a player of great quality is coming, at a great age to come to Barça with extraordinary motivation. Personally, I’ve seen how excited he is to come to Barca," Laporta told reporters, as per Goal.

"One of his virtues is that he is sincere. His dream was to play for Manchester United for the rest of his life. He arrived at the age of seven and was born there with an interesting life. He wanted to be a ‘One club man’. It’s nice for a player to say this with all the sincerity."

"But when a situation arises in his life that he did not expect, the team he had always liked is Barca. He had faced us and had Barca on the radar. He was loaned to Aston "Villa so that it could be seen that he is the best player, the best in England and he says that his maximum motivation is to win the Champions League with Barca and the World Cup with England.

"He’s come in strong, he’s very excited, he’s played well with his teammates, and I’m very happy because two years ago he beat us in the Europa League. He made the difference in the tie, and that’s why I’m so happy he came."

What did Rashford say about Man United?

Rashford played 426 times for United, scoring 138 goals. But he had his No.10 shirt taken off him by the club and handed to new signing Matheus Cunha, before being forced to train separately along with fellow outcasts Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Tyrell Malacia and Antony.

Rashford refused to criticise his boyhood club. Image: Getty

However despite his treatment, Rashford refused to criticise United in his Barcelona unveiling. When asked about claims from Lineker that the issues at United were not Rashford's responsibility, he commented: "The situation with Manchester United is that the club is going through a period of change, and this has been ongoing for some time. I don’t have anything negative to say about Manchester United.

"I think it has been an important part not only of my career but of my life as well, so I am grateful for the opportunity to play for them. But football is the same as life, not everything goes as simple as you may have thought. This is my next step, my next chapter."

Rashford has already taken part in his first training session with his new teammates and is set to join them on their pre-season tour of Asia, where they play two games in South Korea against Daegu FC and FC Seoul after a friendly with Vissel Kobe in Japan eventually got the go-ahead.

His transfer, which reportedly includes a penalty clause if Barcelona do not sign him permanently, adds a new dynamic to El Clasico as Rashford and England teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold are poised to battle after he left his boyhood club Liverpool to join Real Madrid.