Barcelona's dream signing revealed as shock Marcus Rashford decision made

Barcelona's dream signing has been disclosed along with the club's stance on signing Marcus Rashford on a permanent basis.

Rashford joined the Blaugrana on loan from Manchester United in the summer and has 12 goals and 13 assists in 43 appearances.

With the England international appearing settled in his new environment and confirming his intention to stay, a permanent switch to Barcelona appeared to be nailed on for Rashford.

However in recent times more and more doubts have been raised about that happening and now The Athletic have explained the worrying situation Rashford finds himself in.

Barca have the option of purchasing Rashford permanently for a fee of £26.1 million in the summer but now look set to decline the available arrangement.

There has been talk of the Catalan outfit attempting to explore other ways to get the transfer done, but United will not budge from the original terms.

As per the report, Barca's interest in Rashford has "cooled" and they currently "don’t intend to trigger" the buy option despite looking like they would two months ago.

Rashford may not be a Barcelona player next season. Image: Getty

It's said that the feeling from Barca officials is that Rashford did not make the most of his "golden chance" in the Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid.

In the absence of captain Raphina due to a hamstring injury, Rashford struggled over the two legs and his display in the second fixture in Madrid was described as "erratic".

Barca's dream striker target named

Barca are reportedly now looking at other options in attack and have their eyes fixed on Atletico striker Julian Alvarez, who scored in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.

The Argentine, formerly of Manchester City, has 19 goals and nine assists in all competitions this season and is one of the very best in the world in his position right now.

Barca view Alvarez as their dream signing and deem him to be the perfect fit for their system. The worry for Barca, however, would be forking up more than €100million to secure his services.

Alvarez has also courted interest from Premier League pair Arsenal and Chelsea. He signed for Atletico for a fee of £81.8 million in 2024.