Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund are reportedly in a two-way fight for Marcus Rashford, with AC Milan said to have pulled out of the race for the Manchester United attacker at a late stage of negotiations.
The 27-year-old has not featured for the Red Devils for over a month, as he is out of favour under head coach Ruben Amorim, who has brought a new standard of behaviour to Old Trafford.
Poor performances in training played a major role in Rashford initially being left out for the Manchester derby, and he has continued to be overlooked, with Amorim planning for life without the academy product.
A permanent departure this month is seen as highly unlikely due to the fact that Man United are thought to want in the region of £40m, while he collects a wage of in excess of £315,000 a week.
Milan have been heavily linked with Rashford and had seemingly been the favourites, but the Italian outfit are instead expected to sign Kyle Walker from Manchester City, with only one of those able to move to San Siro due to a role surrounding non-EU players post-Brexit.
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Barcelona, Dortmund 'battling' for Rashford
According to Sport, Dortmund have met with Rashford's representatives to present a formal offer, with the German giants pushing to secure his signature before the end of the January transfer window.
However, the report claims that Barcelona are also firmly in the race, with the Catalan outfit in a head-to-head battle with BVB for the Englishman, who has scored seven times for Man United this season.
Rashford is said to be waiting for Barcelona before making a final decision, but he risks missing out on a move to BVB.
A switch to Hansi Flick's side cannot occur at this moment in time, as the Catalan giants need to free up some wages, and Ansu Fati is one of those being heavily linked with a move away from the club.
Fati has been left out of the squad for Barcelona's La Liga clash with Getafe on Saturday night, and Flick has seemingly confirmed that the attacker is not in his plans moving forward.
"It's very important to be honest with the players. I've been honest with Ansu. We talked about various options and now it's his decision. If he wants to stay, that's fine, he's a La Masia player," Flick told reporters.
"This is professional football and performances count. My job is to help him improve and that's what we want to do with all the players. Ansu is very professional and always focused. I want to help him."
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Which club will sign Rashford?
In a straight head-to-head race, with two offers on the table, Barcelona would have to be the favourites, with Rashford believed to 'dream' of turning out for the Catalan side, but their numbers are not quite adding up at this moment in time.
BVB, though, have the capacity to sign Rashford now, and a move to the German giants has the potential to reignite his career during a crucial period, with the forward bidding to work his way back into the England squad under Thomas Tuchel.
Matt Law
