Marcus Rashford aims dig at Man Utd after Barcelona move as 'no man's land' claim made

Marcus Rashford has aimed a dig at Manchester United following his move to Barcelona and has suggested the club is currently in 'no man's land' under Ruben Amorim.

After his public fallout with Amorim shortly after the manager's arrival at United back in November, it has been clear that Rashford's future was away from Old Trafford.

Despite links with fellow Premier League side Aston Villa, who Rashford joined on a short-term loan in January, the Englishman instead secured a dream move to Barcelona last month.

Since then, the winger has featured in several matches for the La Liga champions, with fans from both Barcelona and United seemingly happy with the loan move.

But now, Rashford has risked annoying fans back in Manchester with several comments about his boyhood club and the impact of Amorim since his arrival.

Marcus Rashford has impressed during his first matches for Barcelona. (Image: Getty)

Once his move to Barcelona was confirmed, Rashford became the first English player to play for the Catalan club this century.

Gary Lineker was the last English player to represent Barcelona, leading to him deciding to speak with Rashford in an interview on The Rest is Football podcast.

Rashford criticised the club for their lack of direction, claiming that the principles put in place by legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson have been abandoned - leaving the club in "no man's land" after successive failed managers.

"Show me a successful team that just adapts," Rashford asked.

"When Ferguson was in charge, not only were there principles for the first team but they were for the whole academy.

"So you could pick players from 15 years and they'd all understand the principles of playing the Manchester United way.

"Any team that has been successful over a period of time has principles that mean that any coach or player that comes in has to align to or add to the principles.

"At times, United were hungry to win but it was reactionary. If your direction is always changing you can't expect to win the league."

Rashford and Amorim had a strained relationship at United. (Image: Getty)

But Rashford didn't stop there. He admitted that his time away from United during his loan spell at Villa allowed him to see that the transition needed to fix the club's issues has not yet started, despite Amorim already being in charge for almost 10 months.

"This is what people forget,' he added. "We have been way below where we deem United to be but if you take a step back, which I've been able to do, especially over these last six months, what do you expect?

"People say that we've been in a transition for years but to be in a transition you have to start it. The actual transition hasn't started yet.

"When Liverpool went through this, they got [Jurgen] Klopp and stuck with him. They didn't win in the beginning. People only remember his final few years when he was competing with City and winning the biggest trophies.

"To start a transition you have to make a plan and stick to it."

He added: "I feel like we’ve had that many different managers and different ideas and different strategies in order to win … you end up in the middle of – you end up in no man’s land.”

As part of the deal that saw him join Barcelona, the Spanish side have the option to make the move permanent at the end of the 2025/26 season for a reported fee of £30.3million.

Following Rashford's comments about his former club, it is hard to see how there is any way back for him at United following his loan spell, perhaps increasing the likelihood that he will stay at Barcelona permanently.